Between Heaven And Hell
by meekobuggy
Summary: YouTube paranormal investigator and psychic empath and clairaudient, Bella Swan, adopts a new team for her work. Nothing can quite prepare her for the deep end of the supernatural when Kol Mikaelson approaches regarding her job opening. With friends and family, they investigate some of the most haunted locations known, and discover that there is more to Bella than meets the eye.
1. Prologue

The following story contains material that may be disturbing for some readers.

Reader discretion is advertised.

PROLOGUE:

 **~ youtube video ~**

Voice over: My name is Bella and from a young age I discovered I could talk to the dead, hear them. Feel their energy and emotions. I didn't want to do anything with it until an event caused me to have to use it and I haven't looked back since. Join me and my partner Jake on our little adventures and hear the stories that the ghosts so desperately need to tell.

= Old Asylum =

Voice over: We've been here before and I've always been told not to venture deeper inside this place. We're visitors, we stay out in the reception area or go to the staff room. However, on this visit, something special happens; we're invited inside by what I think is a nurse. Maybe she thinks Jake is insane and needs to admitted, that would be fun!

"So, who are the flowers for?" Jake asked as he followed her out of the reception area, through the door.

Bella looked over her shoulder and smiled. "For whomever needs it today."

Voice over: The energy I feel at this point is very calm, very quiet. Not something you'd associate with asylums, but maybe our returned visits here have calmed the spirits somewhat. Of course, things could change in an instant. I'm allowing the energy to guide us deeper into the Asylum and that's when things start to get… weird. I should have known better, to be honest.

"Uhh…" Jake sounded from behind her. "Bells?"

"Yeah?"

"What wing are we on?" He asked as he watched her through the camera; Bella looked like she was thinking, deep in thought or listening closely. As much as he loved his friend, sometimes she did allow the ghosts to lure her somewhere unsafe and she usually didn't recognize it. Of course, it was what gave her the views on her videos, but still. Was that a hand against his crotch?

EVP: Finally. We kill.

"Women's wing. They're singing." It was beautiful.

EVP: Distract him. Kill her.

Voice over: I have to admit, things have been off for me for a very long time. Jake should have noticed. I should have noticed. What happens next was only minor, but perhaps it happened too many times lately.

"That's not all they're doing," Jake grunted as the feeling of more hands on his body appeared. "Bella, you need to tell them to back off." More grunting followed, and then an annoying whine. "Bella."

Voice over: I've been doing this for years and I always protect myself but it was almost as if something else was luring me down. Not a ghost, not a demon… I don't know, if I'd believe in anything else, I'd say it was more like a Siren's Song. I wish I could show you what happened, but Jake actually turned off the camera, grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder; marching me right out of that Asylum. After he made sure we were both back to normal, he told me he'd quit immediately. That he's had enough and I need someone else to watch my back, someone with more experience, more… I don't know. The voice recorder was still recording, as I keep it on at all times to try to proof to you that I'm hearing them. This is one of the days that I didn't hear them, at all. Too distracted. Too consumed. Too… vulnerable.

EVP: Die. Die. Die.

On camera: "I've tried calling Jake several times but he's ignoring my calls. He's left his hotel room and I'm all alone here. I'm going home. What happened to Jake was my fault. It's on me. I figured we didn't need extra protecting because we went to a familiar place. I was wrong," she ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I need a couple of days to figure out what to do next. What would you like me to do? Find me someone I can trust like I trusted Jake for all these years? Or shall I move forward by myself? Quit? Sell out and join one of those shows on TV? God knows they've been begging me for ages… Maybe I just need a break," she said as she tiredly rubbed her eyes. "Yeah… some time off. Rethink. Regroup. Think long and hard. We'll see. Until next time, stay safe."

~o.O.o~

A few weeks later:

 **~ Blogpost ~**

Hi guys!

Let me start off by apologizing for dropping off the face of the earth like that. According to all your comments you were worried and I want to thank you for your support.

You were right to be worried.

In fact; it made me realize that you've been worried about my well being ever since Jake and I were at the dance hall nearly two years ago. I watched the video (here) and then went through all the raw footage from the encounter and we missed something. Something bad. Really really bad.

In the past two years I've brushed off Jake's comments about my health, but as I look at the videos now, something was definitely not right. I ignored Jake, but that's why we did this together - I need someone to look after me. Not just be the muscle for nasty living meanies, but also to make sure that the bad dead meanies don't latch on to me.

And unfortunately, that had happened.

It explains the decline of quality videos. It explains the risk taking. It explains why Valerie - my spirit guide - abandoned me. It explains why Jake was assaulted so much. It explains so much more and the only one to blame is me.

I spent two weeks at a convent to get back to myself. I had a priest perform an exorcism and I was blessed daily. After a while, I started to feel like myself again. Nearly two years of darkness - a stupid rookie mistake by yours truly. Yeah, I definitely should have known better.

I regained some weight too. Curves are awesome!

Now, I'm currently staying at a hotel in New Orleans; the place you voted for me to go to and I can't be more excited!

Tomorrow I'm meeting a girl named Ann, who knows all about herbs and their protective abilities, per instruction of my friend Astaria of Ghost Files fame. Witches of lore had hex bags, well, I'm going to see if herbs will protect my ass better and hope they will work in sync with my protection prayers.

And theeen… well, I have to find me a new partner! It's not going to be easy, Jake and I grew up together and to have to share my offline life with someone I just met can be a little bit daunting. I'm not the easiest person to be around in general.

However, here's a list of what I'm looking for in a new partner:

\- You have to be a male.

\- you have to be physically able to be my bodyguard and not afraid to get into a physical fight.

\- You have to be nice.

\- You need to be able to stay calm even if things gets chucked at you; you're with me to document things, to observe and ask rational questions.

\- You need to be mentally strong. While I will make sure you'll be protected, it doesn't always mean the protection will be strong enough.

\- You need to be able to see when things get out of hand. I will teach you how to deal with me when something happens to me.

\- You need to be able to work a camera and help me edit and verify with sources if I give out information about the dead.

\- You need to take this position very serious.

I can pay for your hotel room, food and travel expenses, but the rest is up to you.

If you feel this is you, send me an email through the website. Do note that I'm currently in New Orleans so you'll likely have to travel if I decide you can come for an interview.

What will happen when I can't find someone? I like to be positive and we'll see what happens when nothing happens.

In the meantime I'm going to continue to regain my strength and mend fences with Valerie.

Peace and light to you all, Bella.


	2. Chapter 1

The Mikaelson compound was unusually quiet for a Friday evening when Kol walked into the courtyard. His laptop was tucked under his arm as his fingers twitched and tapped on the plastic case anxiously. A nervous habit he adopted from his irritating brother over the years.

Thankfully, it wasn't him he was there to speak to.

His lips pulled back as he cocked his head to the side, like a playful puppy. "Myriam!" he called out, knowing his brother's lover was lurking around. The devious thing was an expert at hiding and, well, many other things.

Making his way through the house, he paused outside his brother's room. "Should I, shouldn't I?" he sang aloud. "You do know that if I walk in and you are naked, it will be my head on the floor and not yours. My brother's temper is among the worst when it comes to you."

Still not a word. What was this girl up to? "I know you are in there!" he shouted. "Bloody hell…"

Without warning, Myriam appeared in the doorway, right in front of his face, wearing a ceremonial garb. "You're disturbing my ritual, idiot. If some poor soul gets misfortune instead of the fortune he paid for, you'll be sorry."

"I must say," he smirked, looking her over. "It's very hard to see you in these dressings. You look - like something, um…"

"Like a pineapple?" Myriam looked herself up and down. "Yeah, I know, but hey, what can you do? I figured I'd get caught up on the dealings while Klaus is away and the house quiet."

"I was going to say you belong in a circus, but that works too."

She hit her brother-in-law on the head with the stick she had in her hand. "Yep, misfortune for poor Mr. Smith," she sighed exasperatedly and motioned for Kol to come in while she got rid of the heavy coat she was wearing. "Going to have to give him his refund now."

"Isn't the guys you deal with already dead?" Kol raised an eyebrow, wondering what kind of payment she would get from ghosts.

"Usually Mary does all the leg work with the living clients, but for some reason she had more clients than she could handle herself so… I decided to help out a little," Myriam smirked, hanging the coat on a rack and made sure it was all neat. "Still, after all these years… it's satisfying to help people."

Sniffing the air, the vampire looked around. "So, did you bring him back here for your voodoo show? Mind if I have a snack before our little meeting?"

Huffing, Myriam pointed to a chair at the table. "He's not here, you know very well I don't bring clients to our home. Sit. Talk."

Kol was quick as he set up his computer, making sure the most recent youtube video of his latest obsession was already set to play. "So, last night, she updated her blog and this morning the video went up which explains a lot more behind the post. What do you think?"

Myriam sat down as she looked at the video and smiled. "Notifications are awesome, aren't they?"

"But first, please lose the ridiculous head garment…"

She rolled her eyes at him and placed it on the table behind the laptop. "Better?"

"Thank you, yes. It is distracting and I am here to discuss the girl. Tell me more about her," he begged.

"I've been watching her for awhile," Myriam smiled as she paused the video to seemingly caress the girl's face. "Everything she said was right; something had attached to her and it was a lesson she needed to learn. It's a shame it took so long because I think that despite her assuring her viewers she is fine, it shook her to the core. I feel a little bit guilty for not reaching out to her, but she's making good progress. That Ann woman… Well, Ann is special and I'm sure she gave the girl some good stuff that would make her believe she'll be stronger."

Sitting back, Myriam looked at Kol and felt he was worried about something. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"I would like to work with her with these things, but there is something more pressing, considering the medium she says she is - I don't know how safe she would be right now," he admitted as he stared at the paused screen.

"I haven't been able to catch up on everything with her, though. I just saw the name Ann appear and…" It was almost as if then recognition hit. There was only one Ann she knew of who was well versed in herbs, thinking she ran a tea shop. "Wait, is she in New Orleans? And she's looking for a new partner here?"

"She came to New Orleans for her next project but has open applications for the partner. They have to come to her on their own. I'm here already, and I was going to see about compelling the position out of her but seeing she's been to Ann's, she no doubt has vervain on her now," Kol pouted, falling into a chair.

"I doubt you can compel her anyway," Myriam said with a slight chuckle. "Mediums are witches, remember?"

"Very low grade, I know. I've managed it before," he waved her off.

"Klaus won't like the idea of you working with her. Hell, Elijah will throw a fit. They'll be afraid you're going to draw attention to them."

Kol looked up at her through his lashes and smiled deviously, much like his brother Nik could do. "See now, that just makes it all the more fun, Darling. Do you think it would work?"

Myriam opened the blog post on her phone and quickly read it before smirking. "She sets out a lot of requirements for her partner."

"She wants a bodyguard. What better than have a Mikaelson?" he replied flippantly.

"You have a temper problem."

"I'll make sure I'm well fed and keep a blood bag with me. Seriously. How bad could it really be?" he asked.

"You really have no idea, huh?" Myriam let out a snort. "How bad could it be… well… bad ghosts could possess you and you could end up killing her."

Kol scowled. "It was a rhetorical question. Consult your voodoo hoodoo Gods and let me know. And as far as killing her. No. I'd just turn her. I always wanted my own minions. I never made any during my first life."

"Yeah, you would turn her. Not whoever is possessing you. Don't get me wrong, you Mikaelsons are mentally very strong, but there are very dark spirits out there that could-"

"Stronger than some random, idiot human. 10-1 says there will be a response in there from a Salvatore brother to her," he bet.

Myriam ran a hand through her hair as she watched the young Mikaelson shift uneasily in his chair for a while before she eventually spoke up. "She's setting up strict boundaries for what she wants in a partner and that's her right, it's her safety and theirs on the line," she then shrugged. "I don't see why you couldn't do the same. Just be upfront with her, honest."

"And say what? Hello, Bella! I'm here for the job, and you should know I'm a thousand-year-old vampire who has died a few times himself and killed thousands, in rage and for food? Yes, I see that going very well. Are you bloody mad?!"

She laughed. "No, you introduce yourself as Kol and being interested in the position. Since initial contact is through email, you'll say you have no problem being someone's bodyguard as you grew up with older siblings and always had to fight your way to get heard. You're ace at technology and don't mind doing research to prove her stories to be true - mind you, the research will involve getting sources other than your brothers. You're fine with her not paying you and will tell her you live in New Orleans so she doesn't have to pay for food and shelter," she said calmly. "Now, what I expect is that if she invites you for an interview, she won't be alone and she'll hear you're not human. She'll ask you questions and you need to answer those honestly."

Kol stared back at the former voodoo priestess. "Where can I get a doll of you? I would like to stab the head with pins right now."

"I know you're not an idiot, but you did ask a stupid question," Myriam stuck out her tongue to him. "You'll be fine. I've consulted with the spirits and they agree, you're great for this position as long as you'll set boundaries yourself to protect yourself and your family. Such as limiting information on your family when you're on camera with her. Or when you're running into spirits of those whom you've killed, you will need to disclose that and tell Bella she can't use the footage. But I feel she's a very understanding, empathic, person."

"And you can guarantee my protection from being boxed by my brothers for this?"

Myriam smirked then. "Of course, once I convince him you're going to align yourself with someone who potentially can be very useful to him."

He whined at hearing those words. Nik always wanted powerful allies to protect himself and the family but mostly himself. "Then he will just want to come along and twist her to an allegiance all to him! I want the girl. I want something that has nothing to do with them!"

"Oh, of course, but he doesn't need to know that," Myriam winked at him. "The girl will be safe out of your brother's reach because I will convince him you're the best man for her. Something as light and pure as she is doesn't belong to him. Hell, I don't want to share him!"

"See that's the thing, you see her as pure, but I don't feel what you feel when I watch her. She feels like me. I want to meet her. Now," he said and stood up, pulling his phone out to start sending a message to her site.

Myriam whined. "I may know where she's staying… it would show off your research capabilities to her."

"And make me look like the stalker that I am. Great. Let's go," he said as he walked out the door. "You're taking too long Myriam!"

She looked at his retreating back. "Well, do you want to know or not? Do you want to be the stalker or not?" She laughed as she shook her head. "Oh, you're adorable."

Kol was back at the door, growling. "Don't say that word. I dare you to use it on my brother in bed tonight. Be sure include that strap on you got for him after we went to see Deadpool. Give me the address."

"She's at the worst hotel at Magazine Street. You know, the one which used to be an orphanage?"

"Oh, bloody hell. She won't be getting any rest there. I'll see if I can't convince her of other arrangements while she is staying in town. Be back later," he muttered, more to himself as he ran out of the compound.

~o.O.o~

Ever since her blog post went up, Bella had been refreshing and refreshing and refreshing her mail inbox. While the wifi was shoddy in this hostel, she had to grin and bear it. She had hoped more people would be interested in helping her out, but she didn't get one application. Not a single one.

While she had promised to remain positive, she found it hard to realize that maybe she had to quit helping spirits to find peace or just to interact with them and to listen to their stories. There was no way in hell she was going to do this alone. Ever. Bella wanted to keep sharing her experiences and if this wasn't going the way, she'd have to think of other ways. Perhaps become a medium you'd see in the streets. New Orleans was filled with people claiming to be able to talk to the dead; connect with someone at the drop of a hat. While some were likely legitimate, others were not.

No, selling out wasn't the way to go either.

Sighing, she looked over to the corner where she had placed some toys. She was staying at an orphanage, after all, and didn't feel the children would do anything to harm her. "Hello," she smiled as she saw the balls move. "Wanna play catch?" When she received a negative answer, she shrugged. "Fine by me, knock yourself out."

'Boo!'

Bella blinked when she felt the familiar presence of her spirit guide, Valerie. She was glad Valerie decided to return, but she was curious what the reason was. Valerie felt like a girl of Bella's own age, fun and funky, but immensely protective and easily to offend at the same time. "Val!"

'There's someone at the front desk for you, you may want to greet him.'

"Him?"

'Yes. And say yes to him.'

"Uh…"

'Just go, Bella. You'll see.'

Bella scowled as she got to her feet, grabbed her key and headed downstairs where there was, indeed, a young man standing at the front desk. He was quite good looking too, he had a sense of danger around him but she sensed that he was quite alright. "Uhm… Hello?"

Kol pulled away from the staring contest he was holding with the desk clerk and turned to Bella with a smile. "Hello, Darling. I must say, it is a pleasure to finally get to meet you in person," he greeted as he held out his hand. "I've been following your work since - well, for awhile." He wanted to say since he came back to life again, and needed human distractions, but figured the current location was not the best for such a topic.

She took a step back and cocked her head, not liking him being so in her face. "How did you find me?"

"Well, you posted about New Orleans, your work leading you here currently. It's not hard to find someone in this town when you know every bit of it," he shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Shall we go get some tea? The place next door isn't bad, though I know a few in the French Quarter to be much better."

'Go on, say yes,' Valerie urged her.

"N-no," Bella stammered, taking another step back. "Dude, you're freaking me the hell out."

Kol let out a sigh. "I told her this was a bad idea," he muttered to himself. "Never will listen to that bloody bitch again." Turning his head to the clerk, he locked eyes with him. "Scram. I need the room."

As the desk clerk took off, leaving just Kol and Bella in the lobby, Kol moved over to one of the oversized chairs and made himself comfortable. "My name is Kol and I assure you I have no interest in harming you. In fact, I had messaged you about the job opening. My brother's girl had told me you would be - more open, but I have a feeling she's back at his place laughing her voodoo queen head off right now."

The words didn't quite hit her yet. This wasn't how it was supposed to go; she'd get an email, she'd assess the email and send back a message to set up a meeting or not. And this guy shows up, messing with her expectations and the clerk was a jerk for leaving her alone with this guy. This… Kol.

She stepped aside in time for the tea rush; every afternoon around the same time the children would run across the hotel's first floor to go to what used to be the common area for tea, and it was almost like a stampede. Tiny feet running on hardwood floors even though the floor was now covered. Her head filled with giggles and laughter, making her relax somewhat.

Before he could truly temper his reaction, Kol jumped up to his feet, pulling his jacket closed around him and glaring around the room. "Bloody little buggers! I know plenty of witches! I only want to talk to the girl!"

"Hey!" Bella called out, angrily, focusing on Kol, her anxiety releasing through her anger. "They're children, take a fucking chill pill." She immediately regretted her outburst. "Sorry."

He turned back to her, drawing in a deep breath. "I asked you to please go somewhere else to talk. While I'm not unused to this kind of thing, it will take some adjusting to being around them. I tend to avoid these places for a reason."

"Then maybe you're not the right guy for the job," she stated simply as she moved to sit down on one of the chairs.

"Wrong, because while I need to get used to it again, there are nasty buggers bigger and worse than these kids that could do you a lot of harm and I'm a lot better at distracting them from you and getting you out safely," he reasoned. "I merely need to - acclimate again," he scowled. "Simply take more trips to the cemetery or something."

Bella let out a snort as she quietly winced about the flashing memories of the last two years. She pointed at the chair he had vacated and shrugged. "Don't worry, no activity for the next hour or so," she eventually said and then realized some of the words he had spoken were unusual to her. "Voodoo queen? Witches?"

"Magic, love. My brother's girl was a fairly known voodoo priestess in her time, but she lets a local human play her role in town for tours and such. Trust me, she does not appear what you would think for one who performs that kind of magic. Just this morning, she looked like a dancing pineapple that escaped from the circus," he smiled. "Not my particular type of magic I prefer, but I'm still learning more about it from her and it does have its merits."

'Magic is real, I told you this before,' Valerie's voice sounded somewhat strained. 'He's a vampire. An old one at too.'

Bella turned her head to the voice and rolled her eyes at her. "What have you been snorting, Val? I'd love to have some because vampires don't exist!"

'Oh, really? Tell him to show you his game face.'

Kol chuckled as he crosses his legs, hearing her words and getting relaxed. When she looked over at him, he waved his fingers flirtatiously. "Oh, but we do. And while you do smell scrumptious, I'm not interested in you for a meal." He paused and his eyes flicked over her. "Well not in that way anyhow."

'And this is why I said you have to say yes to him. I urge you to.'

Bella blanched at what they both said. "He basically propositioned me! I don't even know him!"

"Not basically. I did. If you were willing, in the future. I can control my urges if you could," he winked. "So do we have a deal?"

"Where do you live? Here in New Orleans or somewhere else?"

"Here in town, yes. Though, if you are willing, I am also willing to make a sacrifice while you are in town," he said as he leaned forward on his knees, peering at her with a smile, waiting to see if she took the bait.

"You're willing to leave your cozy home in exchange for a room in a haunted hostel?"

He raised an eyebrow and looked around, clearly unnerved by the environment. "Oh hell no, Darling. No. I would move in with my brothers, and sister while you stay at my place. You'll have all the furnishings to be comfortable, and safety above all. We'd be a stone's throw away if you need me, but while you are in New Orleans, you may be safe from your spirits in here, you wouldn't be safe from other things that go bump in the night whereas I have a special spell on my place where you would have to invite anyone in. Living or dead, meaning my kind specifically."

'See! Do it!'

Bella eyed him, curiously. "First off, we've only met and while Valerie says I can trust you, my past experiences have been - I'm protecting myself here."

"Yes, I saw the footage with your friend Jake. I must admit I'm not a particular fan of him. Neither is Myriam. I would not doubt she has a doll made of him hidden somewhere," he murmured in thought.

"Secondly… your kind? Surely it can't be that many."

He smiled as he looked at her adoringly. "You have so much to learn about this world. New Orleans is supernatural and paranormal at its core. It's crawling with witches, vampires, and werewolves. Half the city council, last I heard, if my brother didn't kill them, were from a particular pack he was never fond of."

"Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to come here after all," Bella muttered as she sat back in her chair. Sighing, she shook her head. "I might quit what I'm doing."

'Don't you dare quit, Bella. You're doing a lot of good, and that's good.'

"It's a great town, Bella. No matter what. And you shouldn't give up. You need someone to help you. All you are learning is the world is much larger than you thought. You still would have gone out this morning, for your morning coffee and biscuit, and never known the shop owner was a witch. Gone shopping in town, buying a handmade purse on the street, not knowing it was made by a vampire passing her eternal life selling pretty things for pretty humans. Much of the world is still the same as it was an hour ago. Good and bad humans, good and bad spirits, good and bad vampires - which I know plenty about," Kol explained, sighing as he took in her face. Scribbling his number and address, he left it on the table that separated them. "Think about it. If you change your mind, this is where you will find me." He then got up and smiled at her. "And now you're going to do what you would require me to do; go google and verify what I just said. I promise you, you want me for this job."

Bella watched Kol exit the building, dumbfounded at the information she had just received and took in a huge breath. "Fuck."

'Why didn't you agree to go with him? Why didn't you say yes? Why!'

"Because he freaks me out, damn it," Bella muttered angrily as she made her way to her room and started to boil the kettle for water.

'I think he was cute…'

"Looks can be deceiving." Bella expected Valerie to have the last word, but she could feel her leave and shook her head, again. "Wuss," she said as she made her tea and headed over to her laptop, no messages received. Opening another tab was agonizingly slow, not because of the wifi, but also because her computer was aging. She knew about New Orleans, more in the sense of the city that never slept and the legends of the city, always believing 'vampires' and 'werewolves' were dark spirits, created by old people to scare children or for vampire stories. Hell, even the first hit on her search said so.

But everything she found seemed to contradict what Kol was. He could walk in daylight. He looked human. He was intelligent and didn't attack her to eat her.

It didn't feel right, though, him offering her his apartment so callously, on first meet. Granted, his job would include having her in a safe place, but would it truly be a safe place or was it simply a lie to get her where he wanted and then do things?

 **~Twitter~** I just had the weirdest non-paranormal experience in my life and for once I'm questioning the sanity of my supporters.

She blinked when a handful of emails unexpectedly popped into her inbox, almost as if the wifi decided to behave. The most recent one was a person called Myriam, likely the same Myriam Kol had spoken of. _My guess is Kol came across as an over-eager, but a cute little puppy. Maybe frightening, even. He means well, he does want to protect you and he does want to help you. Truth be told, he might even have a big crush on you. God knows what he does in his apartment by himself, watching your videos… Anyway, here are a few links you might want to explore; these are not found on google, but shared amongst the supernatural community. I know all of this may sound frightening to you, but in all honesty, at least you can see the supernatural with your own eyes, unlike your ghosts! Trust you will be safe with Kol._


	3. Chapter 2

"Shit, shit, shit!" She felt fortunate that she kept most of her equipment in her trolley and basically lived out of her backpack as she frantically tried to pack what was lying around in her room. She needed to flee, right now. Nearly tripping over her feet, she started running down the streets of New Orleans, catching the streetcar towards Bourbon Street and hopefully creating as much distance between what was stalking her and herself.

Had it been a dark spirit, she would have been able to keep it out herself, but no, what was following her was much worse; it looked like someone on PCP with fangs. Vampire. This person had followed her before, but tonight was the first time it actually came at her.

Bella sensed her pursuer had dropped off significantly once she got close to where she was going, but she knew it was likely he was waiting around the corner somewhere, ready to pounce. Bella was crazy for doing this. Totally. But she knew she'd be safe with him, somehow. She was near tears when she finally arrived at the address Kol had given her and frantically knocked on Kol's door. "Kol!"

Kol opened the door, a look of surprise on his face as he stared open mouthed at the girl. "Uh-"

" _Kol, buddy, you're dying here. What's going on?"_ a loud voice through his headset could be heard.

"Gotta go, Gilbert. I have a girl at the door," he said, quickly cutting off the sudden barrage of questions that flooded the line. "Bella. Come in. What's wrong? Did the kids step out of line? I was serious when I said I could get a witch to put them in a time out."

She pointed down the street, still feeling frantic before she stepped inside, and a feeling of peace and quiet washed over her, the first time she hadn't felt anything in ages.

He leaned out, his shoulder slightly pushing her behind him as he stared down the shadow of a man. He lifted his nose to breathe in a scent, often difficult in the city due to the volume of people coming and going. Growling, he pulled her inside more. "Stay in. I'll take care of this. Trust me when I say, this one is not welcome in town and he knows it," he explained. Stopping briefly, he thought for a second and looked at her. "Do not go out the door or onto the balcony until I return. Do you understand?"

It was then she noticed what Kol had on his head and let out a snort. Reaching up, she pulled his boxers off of his head. "I'm not going anywhere and this better be clean or I'll be extremely grossed out right now."

His lips pulled back into a grin and waggled his eyebrows as he disappeared, leaving her holding his shorts.

Bella could feel the adrenaline leave her body as she tried to get up the stairs with her trolley with equipment - there was no way she was going to leave it standing in the open doorway. She ignored her struggle, focussing more on how much the apartment felt like a desensitize tank; it was completely empty and serene and the only thing she could hear was the TV upstairs. She kept telling herself this was insane, she was being careless, but a part deep down told her to keep going, that this was the right thing to do.

Once she was upstairs, she was surprised by the size of the apartment, how much space there was but yet how cozy and homey it felt. Her eyes got drawn to the TV, and she realized Kol had been playing a computer game and his friend was trying to crawl through the camera lens on the other side, likely wondering where Kol had run off to.

When Bella tossed Kol's shorts on the couch, it garnered the attention of the boy on the tv and he frantically waved with a big smile on his face. Bella greeted him with a small wave before stepping outside of view of the camera as she waited for Kol to return.

It wasn't long, and when he did return, he wasn't happy. It was clear he had been in a fight as he had smears of blood on his clothes and hands. "I'll be out shortly," he said as he passed by her through the living room, toward his bedroom, closing the door behind him. "Just need to wash up. You don't need to see this."

"Is that what you have to do often? Hurt other vampires?"

He didn't answer right away as he debated how honest he should be. "When I have to to protect my family," he called as he was quick in his speed. He walked out in fresh clothes and watched her with apprehension. "The one who was hunting you down. My family has a long history with him."

"He's been following me since I got into the hotel, it's only today he made an attempt to get me," Bella said as shivers ran down her spine.

Kol nodded, trying not to get her more upset. "As you know, there are good and bad humans, just as you know now about vampires. He likely took notice of you first because you were a single lady in a big town. The first few days you had no one else around you, pegging you for an easy target for a meal, or some other - nefarious purpose, which is his M.O. I'm sorry to say, what made him act tonight was likely my coming to you to speak about the job offer."

"It's fine," Bella sighed, waving it away. "Something was bound to happen anyway, things have been too quiet."

"It still should not have gone down this way for you to believe what I shared. Still, I have to tell my brothers about this. They will need to have those on their payroll step up their patrols in town," he shrugged.

"Oh, don't bother with that. Really. I'm glad I can crash on your couch."

Kol smiled. "No, actually we do. Because bad vampires cause increase in murder sprees, decreases travel and tourism and business. It's an endless cycle and a delicate balance we all try to keep. Most - normal vampires feed on blood, yes. Human blood that is. But what sets the sane apart from the more dangerous, is we can control ourselves and our meals live, a band aid and some iron supplements, a little compulsion and they knowing nothing. Life continues and the balance ensues. Characters like Douglas, well, if things were so dangerous in town, we wouldn't be able to have pretty ghost hunters like you to come and visit."

"I'm not a ghost hunter," Bella laughed. "But I understand your reasoning, it's just… yeah… balance. Balance is good."

"Semantics. You're free to use the apartment to your heart's content. I'll be right across the street. In fact, if you go out on that balcony, you can see right into my one brother's room. No worry that you'll see something indecent. He's a prude, but he'll take a liking to you, I think," Kol winked. "Come on over if you get bored. But do get some rest. No spirits or supernatural other than I can get in here so it'll be quiet for you."

"I noticed that," she said with a small smile before biting her lower lip and looking at him. "I've been living out of hotels for years, I don't like being alone that much. I can stay on your couch and out of your way, I promise."

"You'd never be in my way. I'm too fast for that," he smiled. "But I've seen your videos and I can see those bags under your eyes, Doll. Just for tonight, sleep in a real bed and tomorrow, we can plan out what to do next. Deal?"

"Okay," she sighed, giving in. Despite her two week stint at a convent, she'd been surrounded by people, by spirits and this was the first time in a very long time she didn't hear anything. Didn't feel anything. And it was so good, slightly scary, but so good. Bella then noticed Kol's friend was still trying to get his attention. "You should finish playing your game."

Kol sighed and pulled his headset's connector out of the computer and turned to the television. "I said I had to go."

"Yes, and you didn't disconnect," the voice replied, there was a hint of giddiness lying underneath his voice. "But good for you, man. Good for you. Have fun!"

"I'm going over by Nik's! Don't make me come back to Mystic Falls and break your neck!"

"I am not in Mystic Falls. I might very well be in New Orleans, tracking something! Or applying for a job!"

Kol scowled. "I'll simply kill that sister of yours. I owe her anyway… What - Why? No. Just no. You come here and not even that ring will bring you back when I kill you this time."

"Dude, relax," Jeremy snorted. "It's not something you'd be interested in and I'll be likely out of New Orleans in like… a month. It looks like a great gig, too."

"No. Besides - I heard rumors the girl was interviewing this morning anyway. Sorry pal."

"Girl? Damn, you do know about it? Kol, I swear, if you're going to hurt her -"

"You guys talking about me?" Bella piped up, curious now. "Is he a vampire too?"

"Yes and you hired me already, right?" Kol replied, staring at her hard. "And no, he's not. He's a vampire hunter who killed me a few years ago."

Bella walked up to Kol and poked him in the arm. "You're a vampire, you're already dead. Besides, you feel pretty solid to me, how did it happen?"

"No. I really did kill him. Like burning flames and ashes. His family can only be killed by a very particular type of wood that is extremely rare. I got the better of him and poof! Flammable vampire," Jeremy shrugged. "His brother tried hunting me down for a bit after but then I died."

She eyed the boy on the tv. "You're not dead, either."

"I was brought back by my ex-girlfriend."

"Ditto," Kol raised a finger. "But she and I are still friendly, hence the nice protection on the apartment, yes?"

She didn't know what to do with this information. "I need a nap."

"You need a shot with that? I got plenty of good bourbon. Help yourself. If you have any questions or need any spirits to contact while in the apartment, feel free to ask the dumbass there. He can see ghosts when he needs to."

"No, I don't drink," Bella shook her head. "If I drink, my mind gets all woozy and I'm not able to protect myself." She then looked at the TV again. "Hmm, I may have to re-think my team set up, but first, I need a nap. This is too insane." She carefully placed her equipment trolley in a corner to make sure it couldn't fall over. All of her precious equipment was in there and she did not want to risk breaking any of it. "Information overload, you know," she said with a yawn.

Jeremy laughed through the television. "Trust me. Knowing Kol, he only gave you a drop in the bucket. Goodnight. I need to go find something to eat anyway and -," he sniffed his armpit. "Maybe take a shower."

"Boys are gross," Bella said as she picked up her backpack and turned to Kol. "Are you sure about the bed? Because I can go anywhere and fall asleep right now."

"Go. I'll be by tomorrow with breakfast. I think I remember Nik has some french cook this week."

"You're going to leave?" Bella said, feeling her anxiety rise a little. "No, please… I don't want to be alone."

"Okay then," Kol nodded. "Not all night, I promise. I'm going to talk to my brother and I'll be back. Remember, right across the street. I'll have to tell him we will need to speak in Elijah's room where you can see us."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. Thank you," she loosened the hold on her backpack slightly as she walked into the direction of where Kol went after coming back all bloody. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Love," Kol said after her, frowning before he walked out, texting his brother to meet him at the compound.

~o.O.o~

"Did she contact you after your interview?" Myriam wondered as she watched Kol walk into the courtyard. "I sent her an email with more information about what we are."

"Not in the way I had hoped," Kol answered agitatedly. "Where is Nik? Is Elijah home?"

"Elijah's room, as you requested. And yes, Elijah's with him, too."

"Bloody hell. I hoped he wouldn't be," Kol grumbled as he made his way up the stairs and down the hall. Walking in, he ignored his brothers and went to the balcony to open the drapes and door. "There! Much better."

"What's going on, brother?" Elijah asked, eyeing his younger brother's curious behavior. "Expecting someone?"

Smiling, the youngest brother waved a finger over his shoulder. "Tell me, do you see anything interesting?"

Both brothers looked out of the open door, seeing a young, petite brunette feeling around, almost as if she was testing out the stupid barrier their brother had put up in and around his apartment. "Ah, I see you've managed to kidnap the girl you've been so obsessed with the last couple of years," Klaus stated dryly.

"Not kidnapped. She came running for protection. It seemed our old friend, Douglas, was in town and had set his sights on her. I took care of it," he answered without taking his eyes off his houseguest. "The barrier is giving her mind a break right now and I'm hoping she'll find some sleep before I get back, but she wasn't happy about my leaving until I convinced her we would talk in here where she could see us."

"A wounded puppy," Elijah let out a sigh. "Why aren't I surprised?"

Myriam shook her head from behind them as she leaned against the bedpost. "She's a medium, that's for certain. But there is something more there and when I tried to find some sort of protection that would work for her, there was always something blocking me. Which leads me to believe that there is something more present."

"She still has that dark entity attached to her?" Kol asked worriedly. "I thought she got rid of it?"

"No," she shook her head. "She had it removed almost immediately. This is some other tie and I can't quite tell where or who to. It could be so new that it is growing, or it's so old it's impenetrable at this point. Hell, half the time I can't even feel she's even there."

Klaus wasn't sure about the girl. He was curious, like his brother, like Myriam, and had even seen a couple of her videos after Myriam let her browser open. It was clear the girl was gifted, and right now she looked like a fish out of water. "Even from her videos, you can tell she has an innocence but there's something else that is there but she doesn't want to acknowledge, which leaves me to believe she doesn't know anything," Klaus eventually said. "What are your intentions with her, Kol?"

"She doesn't. She just learned about vampires this morning and then realized one had been stalking her since she arrived in New Orleans," Kol admitted. "I am looking to work with her on her projects, try to keep her safe. The Gilbert boy wants to help too and is a big fan of hers. Considering each of our abilities, I think we could help her."

"Young Gilbert is reckless," Klaus turned to Kol. "And so are you. How would that possibly help her?"

"We get along. I can get her out when things get too bad, and quickly. Jeremy can see what she can hear, and not. I can help her with the true history of many areas, of what potential dangers might want her because there is something out there targeting her and it's getting worse through her videos."

"I have to agree with Niklaus," Elijah said after some thought. "Not that I don't want to discourage you from doing something noble, but she moves in a different world than us, there are beings in her world that could harm you as they can harm her."

"Jeremy is, again, firmly in that world and we already have a plan for that. Confidentially and compulsion is great with contracts and pseudonyms. Jeremy and I are in full control of the cameras and editing so we will show what we want. We are drawn to her for a reason, and we will help her. I don't give a damn what you say," Kol argued.

"It's interesting to hear you say young Gilbert is also drawn to her. Perhaps Elijah should look more into the lore of The Five - ignoring the whole Silas debacle," Klaus said thoughtfully.

Myriam rolled her eyes and moved to stand next to Kol. "I agree with Kol because I've also been pulled to help her. I've most recently been hitting walls in what to do next, but Kol does seem the strongest candidate to support her. And she's accepted him it seems, with him telling about his nature."

"I know, love," Klaus smiled at her. "Like I know how you've already prepared a bag for him to protect him. Kol has my blessing to continue with this…. Adventure. However, if somehow, through this new adventure, some of our old enemies find us, it'll be the end of it, do you understand, Kol?"

"How about we just kill them? It'll be me and a hunter teaming up," Kol shrugged. "I'm really more concerned about our dead enemies taking it out on an innocent girl."

"Then I suggest you stay away from that tenement building," Elijah quipped, a smile on his face. "I'd be curious to see how the dead witches react to her."

"I wasn't planning on taking her there regardless. And truthfully, I am too. Maybe I should take her to meet the Ancestors tomorrow."

Myriam frowned, not sharing her thoughts as she looked out the window. "She crashed. You should get back there. I'll leave some breakfast at the bottom of the steps in the morning."

Kol was happy with this conversation. He had expected to have a much harder time with his brothers than he had had. "Thank you, Myriam. And thank you, Nik and Elijah for trusting me with her."

"Don't thank them. I still would have told you to go if they tried stopping you, then put their asses in time out. They don't have the right to control you," she argued, glaring at the two like spoiled children.

"Fine," Kol smirked and bowed. "I'll unthank you, Nik and Elijah. Have a pleasant evening."

"Laters! And I will get you for telling her about the pineapple circus!"

~o.O.o~

When Bella woke up the next day, she felt as if the day had already started without her. Confused as to where she was, she sleepily looked around. Why weren't there voices of the dead or energies?

Shaking the fog out of her mind, she recalled the events of the day before and couldn't help but wonder in disbelief. It wasn't as if she could deny the existence of vampires and magic, because she dealt with spirits and not a lot of people believed they were real, either.

She knew Kol was going to insist on having her stay at the apartment and she decided not to fight him on that - she absolutely loved having a breather from everything, it was as if a part of her that rarely got the chance to function had awakened her and it felt so good!

Bella shimmied out of bed and realized she had fallen asleep with her clothes on. Letting out a groan of frustration, she grabbed her bag and dragged it off to the bathroom to freshen up and change her top for a clean one. She was going to have to insist on paying for her stay at Kol's house and pay for food. It had been awhile since she'd been able to make use of a real kitchen and she longed for her own lasagna. Maybe she could make that for dinner for the both of them.

Did vampires eat human food? Or was it only blood they consumed?

After Kol returned from speaking with his brothers, he straightened up what he could before stripping down and crashing on the couch. He could have gone into the second room but he was too tired himself to care. He woke up a few hours later when he heard the front door open, no doubt in his mind it was Myriam bringing the breakfast that she had promised and after hearing the door close again, he brought it upstairs.

There was some light snoring coming out of the bedroom still and he tried to be as quiet as possible as he spread out the breakfast in the kitchen. Kol still couldn't believe everything that had happened yesterday, but he was glad it had. He was feeling a lot calmer now that he knew Bella was safe.

He remembered seeing a wishlist on her support website, things she was saving up for. What if he'd order a few of those things? Kol opened the website on his phone and started reading.

 _ **~wishlist~**_ _: As much as I love my voice recorder, it's old and the voices are grainy. You know what would be awesome? Something like the Wonderbox or Ovilus. Not the Spirit Box, it makes too much noise for me. I can already hear you say; "Oh, but Bella, you hear the spirits anyway!" Yes. Yes I do, but you don't. These devices will relay in real time what's being said and no fudging with the voice recorder in editing. Easier for me, more fun for you._

 _My camcorder is severely getting too old for this shit. I have to keep buying new batteries and all, but with technology advancing, I could use a new one. Jake could use a new one. I suppose the cameras are the biggest priority right now. Also, they're far less expensive than the Wonderbox or Ovilus._

 _A new laptop. Oh, yes. And maybe an external hard drive?_

 _I'm not asking you to buy this for me. If I keep our costs low, I'll be able to get some of these things soon enough. I'm only putting it here because A GIRL CAN DREAM. 3 Bella_

Oh, Kol had plans. So many plans. He could get all of this, granted, it would take a few days because it wasn't all readily available, but he was going to surprise her. Screw the days. He had connections. And he still wanted to kill Jake for being a wuss and apparently not caring that much about his friend. Oh, when Kol would get his hands on him…

He made a couple of calls and then waited for Bella to wake up. It would be evil to wake her while she was still happily snoozing.

An hour later, there was a knock downstairs and Kol went down to be greeted by a grumpy looking Klaus. "You could do your own running around. Next time, I won't be so cooperative. Is that clear?"

"Aw, Nik, I thought you wanted the girl to be happy," Kol snorted as he took the boxes from his brother. "Is it everything?"

"Yes," he replied with a scowl. "Granted, that box thing is almost brand new, had to compel it off some local ghost hunting group and made them forget they even had it in the first place."

"I'm sure she won't care as long as we don't bring it up. Still, thank you. I'll make it up to you somehow. I just need to help the girl," Kol shrugged as he inspected everything.

"Well, now you have the perfect excuse to go to the cemeteries; test out new toys," Klaus shrugged, amused as he watched his brother go through everything. "Have fun, call me if you need anything. Elijah and I have reached out to Douglas' people and they're going to leave New Orleans when the sun goes down. For now, they're gone. Next time, we won't be as friendly. Had it been up to me, they'd all be dead. But you know Elijah."

Kol sneered. He had wanted to kill those vamps, badly, and now had to live with the fact they were still out there and that they could come back. "Oh, I will kill each and everyone of them on sight," he muttered as he watched his brother walk over to the compound.

He went back upstairs and left out the new goodies for Bella on the table, then went into the guestroom to change for the day.


	4. Chapter 3

When she had freshened herself up, she packed up her backpack and brought it with her to the living space but the sight of what was on the table made her drop it in shock. "Holy shit!" Bella couldn't believe her eyes. There was a Wonderbox and new cameras and everything she had on her wishlist. This was unbelievable. It didn't look second hand either, and she was floored.

Kol walked in shirtless and grabbed a pastry, biting into it. "Morning!"

"Morning," she said, fighting to urge to touch the equipment, but not taking her eyes off of them, missing Kol walking around without a shirt. "I know this is your stuff but can I please take a closer look?" Oh fuck it.

He laughed as he looked at her, she looked like a little child at Christmas as she was sitting on her hands and knees at the coffee table, wiggling around in excitement. "My stuff?"

"Yes. Can I please touch your stuff?"

"Oh, that's a loaded question, darling," Kol sucked in a breath as he squatted down next to her, smiling from ear to ear. "I don't think you're ready to touch _my stuff_ yet," he teasingly ran a finger up her arm. "However, if you're referring to the equipment on the table, it's yours."

"What?"

"You heard me, this is all yours."

"Are you serious? This must have cost a fortune!"

"A drop in the bucket when you've been around as long as my family. Nik had a blast finding that thingamabob," he replied, gesturing to the one his brother compelled off a local crew.

"Well yeah," she gently caressed the box. "These things are made on order and they're so freaking awesome. Almost every decent paranormal show uses it - that's how I discovered its existence. I like how it's quiet and only speaks up when there's something to be heard. The other thing makes so much noise it's hard for me to keep hearing them. I can't believe your brother managed to get his hands on this so fast." Bella was so excited, and then her face fell. "I can't afford all of this, Kol."

He smiled and shook his head. "I'm working with you so it's beneficial for me too, right? You wanted the stuff and I need it to help you. Don't worry about it," he replied and moved to set up his new laptop to check out the features over breakfast. "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept great," Bella replied, forcing herself to look away from the new toys. She couldn't wait to try them and see if they'd truly bring something extra. "I mean… I never woke up during my sleep. No sounds, no noises, no feelings, no… nightmares. And your bed felt like heaven."

"It's a bed. Anything feels better when you spend your time in a box for a century or two," he replied, his tone just a touch icy. "But yes, you were more dead than a rock when I got in. Glad to hear you got good rest."

She took a pastry off the counter and gestured to the guest room. "Last night I saw you had a guest room, why didn't you put me in there?"

"You wanted to make sure I was close and you could only see me across the street from my room. It's fine," Kol assured her. "It's not the first time I've lost my room to a lady."

"You're not going to lose your room to me. I was just really freaked out last night and-"

"Shush! No arguing on this. Topic is finished," he playfully scolded. "Now what's the plans for today?"

"Well…" she smiled as she took a bite off her pastry and gestured to the new equipment. "I'm due to upload a video, a small one. Like… five minutes. Just as a taster for what's to come, I guess. And since I originally had thought I'd take potential new partners out to test them during their interview… How about we find some place we can test those out? Play with it and get to know the equipment? Make it the subject of the video?" When she saw his surprise, she continued. "It's like… just playful. Not even doing it for the camera, but you got us new camera's and all…"

Kol nodded, thinking about locations. "Sure. We could go to Lafayette Cemetery. I'm sure you would get a kick out of the ancestors there. I wonder what they'd tell you actually."

"Ugh, cemeteries," Bella shuddered. "You know how many dead people there are on those?"

"What? Ghost girl afraid of cemeteries?" Kol laughed.

"No, but filtering all those voices is hard and draining. Imagine being in a bar and hundreds of people wanting to talk to you at the same time."

He raised an eyebrow and brought a finger to his ears. "Vampire darling. Imagine all the voices I pick up, on top of the passing sounds you aren't capable of hearing. A creaky door is enough to drive one insane."

"Right, sorry. Stupid me," she let out a breath with a nod. "Fine, cemetery it is," she walked over to her backpack and retrieved a sachet she got from Ann. "Can I make some tea?"

"Yeah, knock yourself out. It'll be fine. Besides, I'm sure only a few will be around. The majority of the witches aren't big fans of my family and I."

Bella walked over to the kettle and poured some water into it as she mulled over his words. "Does this have something to do with the balance thing? Or do witches think vampires are abominations?"

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, closing the laptop. "Yes and no. You must understand that being around as long as we have, with unstable temperaments, we gain a fair amount of enemies. While I was more friendly with the witches than the rest of my siblings, as I had missed our magic the most after we turned, they were often ruled by their anger and emotions. Many witches distaste vampires no matter the argument you give, even if we had helped numerous times in their favor against the wolves."

"Jeez, what are they? Nazis?" Bella scrunched her nose as she put the bag into a mug and poured hot water over it. "I mean… we all need to get along, we're all different in many ways."

"Easier said than done. I told you I was no angel and I make no promises to behave all the time. It's not who I am. But I do promise to protect you and be there, to give you what you need of me."

"I know you're no angel, neither am I. I sensed that when you came to me at the hotel. Hence why I was a little standoffish. I guess I make the same mistake as the witches sometimes. Taking things face value and I apologize."

"Nah. It's fine. I believe you would have come on your own eventually. I'm more irritated at Myriam for telling me you would be more open than you were. That's between her and I," he stressed. "Now, you ready?"

"Oh, I used to be very open to new experiences and new people, but Jake and I have had some encounters over the years that changed my mind," she pointed at her tea. "I still need to drink this nasty concoction and I suppose we need to put some of our new stuff into my bag."

Kol sniffed the air and went over to take a look at her tea before pulling back as he shoved the cup back at her, hissing as it splashed on his hand. "Which shop did you get that?!"

"Ann's, are you alright?" Bella said panicked as she saw steam coming from his hand.

"I will be. Demented midget is still playing her games. You could just wear the vervain and it'd work just the same."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were allergic to Vervain… Ann said it would protect me from evil spirits. It's even in my little protection bag."

"All vampires are allergic, love. It's a poison to us. It'll heal, but hurts like a bastard," Kol explained as he shook his hand before inspecting the damage and watched as the blistering slowly healed over. "She's always pulling one over on us, especially me since my mother planted me in a human body for a short time. She never got over my lack of interest."

"I didn't know, I'm sorry. Ann told me it's for protection and healing, purification," Bella apologized, pouring the tea down the drain. "I was referred to her by a friend, mainly because she was worried about me and my health. I have a little herbal bag Ann told me to have on me when I go and chat with the spirits, so I have extra protection."

"Yet she should have seen you would have crossed paths with me eventually as she had the gift of premonition."

"I'm so sorry," Bella said as she rushed through her bag to find the little herb bag. "I'll go throw it out, I don't want to hurt you."

"Another person I need to have a talking to. Don't toss it. Just - keep it away from me. She wasn't wrong vervain would help some in other areas. Just not me like that…"

"Are you sure? I-I could go to Ann and ask her for a different bag without vervain in it."

"I'm sure. Now, what are we going to bring to the cemetery? The camera, of course. And the box, yeah?" He smiled at her as he ducked into a cupboard and found a messenger bag for him to use. Kol had already seen she was extremely careful with her stuff, so he knew he had to adopt that same sentiment. He carefully slid the box into the bag, with the camera and smiled at her. "Anything else we need?"

"Flowers, just a bouquet of flowers. Sometimes a spirit really needs something bright and colorful to lift their spirits."

"Very well," he said as he curiously eyed her. "Now, as you have noticed, I'm answering all of your questions, can I ask you something about how you work?"

"Yep," Bella made sure her bag was closed and put it on her back.

"Why aren't we doing this in the dark? I mean, it's daylight out."

She smiled then. "All of the shows you see on TV or videos from other amateurs like myself, happen in the dark because they want to see the spirits, hope to catch an apparition or orbs or whatever. And yeah, if you want that kind of stuff, or at least to have a chance, you go out at night," she wanted to take his bag from him, but he firmly held on to it with a cheeky smile on his face. "What we're after are voices. Stories. We don't need the darkness to get the stories, they're always around."

"But we are going to do this at night as well, yes?"

Kol was a vampire, of course he had a thirst for adventure. "Of course, night time is always more fun because there's usually no activity outside that could ruin a recording." She followed him down the stairs and out the door and she had to take a breather then as the familiar feeling of emotions swirled around her and invaded her. "Okay, enough of that please," she muttered and felt it all disappear again, only a small linger remained. "Thank you."

"It's because my apartment is very clean, isn't it?"

"Your apartment is a bubble that I totally love. I was afraid of it at first because I couldn't connect with anything but wow, I totally love that about your apartment," Bella smiled at him. "Stepping outside that bubble is a new experience for me. I'm fine."

"So you can even feel my emotions?"

"Yeah, if I open myself up to it, but I'm not going to, because the city is very busy and it can get overwhelming, I mean, you know what it feels like. It's my control."

"Yeah, but we're quite old, Bella, we have learned to mentally protect ourselves."

"Yeah, but you're technically dead," she pointed out. "Don't worry, I'd never abuse what I can do on anyone. Maybe in my sleep, but that's my subconscious. However, you're safe from little accidents in your apartment, don't you worry."

Kol was quiet as he mulled over her words and steered her towards the cemetery. Granted, she had to deal with him, a vampire, and soon his family of vampires, but they could control themselves. He believed she could control herself too, but if she was able to pick up on their emotions like she'd pick them up from ghosts, then they'd have a problem. But it was trust, wasn't it? Yeah, it was trust and he was definitely not going to tell Nik about this tiny thing.

"However, with your permission, I want to keep an emotional tab on you while we're out and dealing with the spirits. I've done the same with Jake, and I want to do it with you too. Especially with you because sometimes I miss something and they could influence you despite all the precautions we're taking."

"I told you, I have ties with Myriam, the voodoo queen."

"Yeah, I know, but I just want to know when your mood changes. Nothing more. Very superficial," she looked at him and reassuringly brushed his arm. "Just as I trust you to protect me by introducing me to your corner of the world, you need to trust me when I introduce you to my part of the world."

Damnit, she was right. "It's alright. It's a safety precaution for the both of us."

"Exactly," she smiled as they passed a flower store. "Oh, wait, flowers. What are you in the mood for? Shall we go for all colors of the rainbow?"

"Wait, you had an empathic link to Jake? But he's human?" She wasn't a witch, but he wasn't so sure now. Everything about her was contradictory.

"Yeah, but we grew up together," Bella explained as she picked a few flowers from the buckets to create a lovely bundle. "So I knew him very well. I don't know if I can do it with other humans, though. I hope not. That'd be scary." She paid for the flowers and continued to follow Kol through the streets of New Orleans. She liked the colors and the buildings and she couldn't help but wonder. "So did you and your family help build this city?"

"My siblings did, yes," he replied after giving it some thought. Sure, he'd been 'present', but not in a good way. He'd rather forget about it all, to be honest. It was even a miracle he was still out of his box in the first place! He supposed he had Myriam to thank for that. His partner in crime. "I've been here for short periods of time, but I didn't do anything of importance here until … oh, I don't know, 1910? When I befriended some witches and set them up against my brother Niklaus just for kicks. You know, the usual brother on brother fighting? In our family we tend to throw huge fits of rage and it was basically a war, in the end."

"Who won?"

Kol huffed. "I did, of course. Eventually. Not at the time, but yeah. I won." Well, in his mind he had won. After all, he had created a weapon which could take down his brother but because his mother was such a bitch upon her most recent return, she took it from him and destroyed it. Bitch. Absolute bitch. Thankfully, Myriam and he became friends and Myriam still has the power to put Nik down if need be, and that was all Kol wanted. A way for Nik to be given a time-out too. "Just don't be surprised that once you've gotten to know my family, physical fights do happen and not lightly. We're able to take a punch. We try to remain civilized, but… we can get pretty violent and it can get scary, but know I take my job in protecting you very seriously and no harm will come to you whenever that happens."

Bella hummed as a response. "I wanted to know for how long you guys had been around in New Orleans so it won't come as a surprise to me if we run into some of your victims. Either yours or your family's. I'm well aware of the fact you won't want it broadcasted you're a vampire or not possible so I can tell the spirits who know you to back off."

"Oh, you don't have to do that, that's creative editing."

"That's cheating and I don't like creative editing. You can edit out silences or boring stuff, but no messing with the footage. Ever. When we're validating what story has been told, I want sources from the library or newspaper or historical archives," she said seriously. "I mean, I know that what I do - what we do - is not for TV, but that doesn't mean it has to be messed with. That we don't validate stuff if there's stuff that needs to be validated."

"You ever considered doing TV?"

"Ugh," Bella rolled her eyes at him. "Not that I don't respect those who do, I'm merely afraid of losing control over what I do. Truth be told, I kinda like it that they try to debunk almost every video of mine and come up empty. Like… I'm an amateur, I don't earn money by the buckets and I only get money when people support me. But everything gets put back into the videos. The traveling, the stays at hostels, the equipment, the food… I don't keep any of it because it's not mine."

"But it is. They decide to give it to you."

"I haven't done anything to warrant keeping that money other than performing a service to the dead while recording it for others to see."

"Okay, so now you don't have to pay for your hotel or food, or new equipment, what will you do with what's left? Return the money? Invest the money?"

Bella shrugged. "We'll have to ask my supporters."

"Stop being such a saint," Kol shook his head, laughing. "It's okay to keep the money for yourself. Maybe you need new clothes or something. They are supporting you because they like you, you don't have to account for every penny they give."

"Just drop it, okay?" she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "I hate talking about finances. It's not important. What is important is we reacquaint you with the energy of spirits and you to remain calm and respectful around them even if they're not."

"Ha," Kol laughed. "If they're going to bully you or me, I'm going to bully back."

"And make a peaceful situation explode?"

"Yes, if that protects you, yes. I'm fast enough to pick you up and rush you out of the situation," he replied seriously. "But got it, don't act out if they don't. I can behave until provoked. We should get a high quality cooler before we leave town. Maybe Jeremy could steal the Salvatore's? That's a thought."

"A cooler?" Bella blinked at him. "Like… the one you'd bring to a camping place or a cook out?"

"Yep. You see… we vampires have a blood lust and most of us have control over it. Like… I don't want to suck you dry even though you smell heavenly. I feed off of criminals these days and so many blood bags… Vampires also have heightened emotions that I told you about. Now, when I get angry or pissed off, I can get hungry. We need a cooler if we're going somewhere for a lot of hours when there aren't humans around."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh, because like hell will I bloody hell feed on animals," Kol thought for a moment. "Definitely getting that cooler." He stopped in front of the cemetery and pointed at it. There were tourists already roaming the paths between the graves, which was unfortunate but given the time of day not unexpected. "Welcome to the City of the Dead. The Ancestors live here. They're spirits that give the witches their power."

Bella leaned against the brick wall and looked at Kol. "I really don't like cemeteries."

"I don't think it would be too bad for you here. You see, mediums are a sub-class of witch, so they may work with your senses on their own. If you can't handle it, we'll go somewhere else. Do touristy things," he replied, promise in his voice. "But hey, I thought you wanted an adventure."

Bella stuck out her tongue to him as she closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright, whomever is in there, you're not going to hurt me or my friend. We come in peace and light-"

He leaned down into her ear and whispered. "Don't stick it out if you don't plan to use it."

"Fuck that, him you can have," Bella opened her eyes and locked with Kol's. "Jerk."

"I've been called worse things, Darling," he shrugged and moved around the fence until he was standing on the other side. "I could show you my playhouse…"

Bella let out a breath. Oh, he was going to drive her insane, wasn't he? He was hot, sure, but damn, he really needed to stop. "Down boy," she countered as she stepped onto the cemetery. She was half expecting to feel the ground shake or the graves bursting open, but nothing happened. Which was good. "So, tell me more about these Ancestors then," she said as she started to slowly walk around and looked at the mausoleums.

"They are really nothing more than dead witches that hail from New Orleans. They practice a very specific type of magic, referred to as ancestral because the power is connected to the consecrated witches buried in town. They are more uppity than others I know of, one of the reasons it's not my favorite but I ran with a couple years past. She would likely be one of the angry spirits that don't like me anymore. Shame. I'm the life of the party!" Kol smiled as he took her arm in his, leading her away from the tourists.

"Sounds more like sacrificial magic to me," Bella quipped, as she allowed him to lead her away from the beaten path. "Hey, this witch is dead! Let's bury her and suck the magic out of her so we can give back to the living!"

Kol's smile faltered as he nodded. "It can be that way," he agreed, thinking about their harvest ritual.

"What cruel society would ever allow that, though?" Bella wondered as she looked at him. "What a strange world you live in, Kol."

"It is what it is. Customs are strange for many of the humans as well and can be questionable. As vampires, we try not to leave enough of a mark to make a significant change. I would be glad to take a run through the Middle East and make a meal of every terrorist that exists, but I can't," he replied, looking around. "Blasted witches! Stop the illusions!"

"What's wrong?" Bella asked him. "Other than the obvious of me not getting anything."

"They likely aren't talking to you because of me, which we expected but they have done something to the cemetery and it's all turned around to the eye. My mausoleum would be here, should be, but I can't see it."

"I hid it," an unfamiliar voice sounded as she stepped around from the mausoleum. "Heard you were running with something unfamiliar, best to protect your goodies and Kaleb."

Kol's lip twitched. "Davina Claire. This is Bella. A new friend. She's a medium and is an online blogger researching the paranormal. If you could fix this, it'd be much appreciated."

"No, why would I fix this?" Davina said as she leaned against the stone and looked at Bella. "She's pretty, though. Of course you always go for the pretty ones. Don't let him ruin you."

"Enough Davina. We aren't even involved like that," he snapped. "Even if we were, you said you couldn't be with me because my control issues."

'Yet.'

"Oh, hello," Bella greeted the unfamiliar voice and let go of Kol to follow the voice away from the bickering exes. "I'm Bella," she introduced herself. She always did. It was nice.

'I heard. The others won't come. Don't expect any to talk to you here. Especially with a Mikaelson.'

"Mikaelson? That's his last name?" Bella sat down on some steps as she watched the tourists walk about.

Kol growled at Davina when he heard his friend and turned to face her, his face scrunching in confusion. "Who you talking to?"

"I don't know," Bella replied with a smile as she leaned back. "He hasn't introduced himself yet. Kinda rude."

'He would know.'

"Says you would know."

Kol cocked his head before sighing. "Only one I can think of here would be Kaleb. I inhabited his body for awhile. I mentioned this to you already."

"Kaleb? Like… with a C or a K?" Bella asked as she saw the shocked look on Kol's friend face. "You might want to take care of your friend, Kol."

He glanced at Davina and shrugged. "She'll get over it. You do your thing and make friends. Now that she dropped the spell, I'm going to go inside. Let me know when you're done."

"Yeah, okay," Bella replied and watched Kol go inside a mausoleum. "Ugh, that's creepy," she said with a shudder. "Kaleb, is there anything you need me to pass along to someone you left behind?"

'Why the hell is Davina so obsessed with me? She was involved with Kol. I didn't even know her. For fuck's sake! I'm gay!'

Bella let out a snort. She wasn't sure if she was going to relay that message. Maybe to taunt Kol or something. Oh, that would be just great. "Are you sure you want me to tell her that?" Bella couldn't stand the hopeful look on the witch' face, but she was glad she was out of earshot anyway. "I'm sorry you were a victim of the whole body inhabiting thing, that must have sucked royally."

'Eh, if it wasn't me, it would have been another witch. I accepted it. Kol wasn't too bad and he respects magic which made it less aggravating. Sure he has impulse issues as a vampire, but I can verify his heart is in the right place.'

Bella smiled at that. "Thank you for that. I mean… I don't feel he'd do anything to harm me, but it's good to hear it from someone else."

'No. If he's invested in something, or someone, it's 100%. He was with Davina until he came back as a vampire and she turned him away. He likes you, I can tell, and he would likely sacrifice himself before he sees harm come to you. I actually wish I could follow to see the hell you put him through.'

"That won't be healthy for you, you know. To follow us around. Besides, I feel like you're stuck here," Bella leaned back on the stairs a little and smiled at the passing tourists. "But what I can do is come here every once in awhile and show you the videos Kol and I made of our adventures, if that's what you like."

'You're really quite something special, aren't you?' Kaleb laughed warmly. 'Sure, why not? It would alleviate some of the boredom.'

"I don't wish to hurt anyone, Kaleb. You can tell your Ancestors that. I always try to be respectful of the dead because that's what they deserve. I'm not like the others."

'Oh, I have no doubt about that, Bella. However, the Ancestors are concerned about you and I'm not sure why.'

"Me neither," Bella said with a grunt. "Truthfully that sounds like the stupidest reason to avoid someone."

'You're absolutely right. So, how about this? You come here every once in awhile and show me your adventures with Kol as long as it's not porn because damn, not being able to have sex sucks, and I'll see if I have some information for you in turn.'

"Porn? Come on, I only met the guy yesterday."

'Maybe, maybe not,' Kaleb laughed and Bella could feel a slight brush against her cheek.

Kol stuck his head out through the doors and looked around. "Who asked about porn? I'm sure Elijah has a stuffy collection from the 70s."

'Okay, mood gone. Thanks, you moron,' Kaleb replied with a sigh. 'Be well, Bella, and watch your back.'

She could feel how Kaleb's energy went away and needed a moment to recover from the interaction with him. While the conversation had been civil and kind, it had been intense and his energy had been intense. Bella could feel why Davina might have liked the guy's appearance. It had a presence. And with Kol inside of him? Oh yeah, doubly so.

She got to her feet and walked back to the Mausoleum to pick up the flowers she had dropped when she followed Kaleb. "Hey, where's he buried?"


	5. Chapter 4

"I'll show you," Davina's voice sounded. "Kol doesn't like to go there, truth be told, he's banished from that tomb anyway. All Mikaelsons are."

She followed Davina over the cemetery and couldn't help but wonder. "You talk about the Mikaelsons as if they're poisonous."

"Yeah, they're a pest, but a necessary evil," Davina shrugged as she opened the gates to the Dubois Tomb. "Kol and I remain civil, but the others? No, don't want to deal with them." She lead Bella to Kaleb's stone. "Did you really talk to Kaleb?"

"Yeah," Bella smiled as she squatted down and touched his stone before placing the flowers at the base. "Nice guy, but you do realize you were dealing with Kol, right? Not Kaleb?"

"Yes."

"So you're basically mourning someone who's not real."

"He was to me."

"But it was Kol inside of him. He just looked like Kaleb," Bella said, as she got to her feet and faced her. "You have to move on, Davina. Either move on or deal with the fact that yes, Kol is a vampire and has impulse control issues and see if you can mend fences with him again because from what I understand is Kol is a very good ally to the witches."

"He's always been, yes," Davina sighed as tears fell from her eyes. "But Kaleb…"

"Wasn't Kaleb," Bella repeated. "He doesn't understand why you're so obsessed with him because it wasn't him. Hell, if it were him, he'd likely have gone for another male witch instead of you."

"What?"

"Kaleb's gay," Bella gently squeezed Davina's shoulder. "So think about what you want. You can pine away and mourn Kol's witch form, or, move on and have a relationship with the real thing because he's not that bad."

"I can't. I - likely hurt him. He doesn't forgive easily."

"Yeah well, you don't look like a quitter to me, Davina Claire," she smiled at her before she left the tomb and headed back to Kol. "What the hell are you doing in there?"

"Spring cleaning. Isn't what couples do when they break up, take their stuff back? Well, that's what I'm doing," Kol headed back in, only to come out with another box full of books.

"Oh dear," Bella let out a long breath. "This was yours and Davina's?"

Kol came out again with a smile. "Technically it's her family's. I ran with one of her great grandmothers when I tried to kill my brother some time ago. I told you this. I just have to find a new hiding place for everything."

"Wait, you never said you were trying to kill your brother. Just hurt him enough with something."

"It only subdues him, the bloody bastard is a hybrid so very little works to kill him. When I reconciled with him and learned his girlfriend is willing to side with me in family battles, I tricked our mother into destroying it. All's fair!"

"Okay… then I might have done something stupid," Bella said as she watched Davina come back. "Like… very stupid."

"Kol?" Davina asked, wiping tears from her eyes. "Can we talk?"

"Oh, bloody hell, Bella, what did you do?"

"What I always do, really… when it comes to talking to deceased loved ones and the ones they left behind… a little bit of therapy and encouragement…"

He glared at her before turning to the young witch. "What do you want Davina? I'm a little busy here."

"You don't have to move out, you know. We can work things out between us, try again?" Davina said hopefully. "I mean… Bella's right, I was mourning someone who didn't exist, it was you all along."

He opened his mouth, closing it, then glared at Bella. "Yes. You did something _very_ stupid." Taking a deep breath, he shook his head, hands on his hips as he looked back at Davina. "She was right and I had told you time and again. I'm sorry Davina, but I can't quite forgive the hurt you caused, knowing everything you do. I do cherish our friendship and what you've done for my family and I, but no. It's too little, too late. I waited until I could not wait any longer and let you go some time ago."

"But-"

"No buts, Davina. I'm sure you'll find someone more compatible with you, but I'm done. I've been done for a very long time. Move on."

Davina glared at Bella in anger before walking off.

"You broke her heart, again," Kol scolded Bella. "Now why would you do that?"

"Because now she has a real reason to mourn and to move on," Bella replied, looking at the retreating back of the witch. "To do something with her pain. I knew she wouldn't have a chance with you anymore, you already told me that."

"To do something? Now she will go and work on trying to kill my family again," Kol said incredulously. "No worries! At least it'll keep them busy while you and I run away together!"

"I convinced her to move on and make a choice. I told her I didn't see her as a quitter. So even if she'd do something stupid in her heartbreak, she'd come after me. Not you."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing and shook his head. "Alright-"

"Plus, she didn't like hearing Kaleb was gay."

"Well that'd put a dampener on anyone's day," he conceded. "I wish I could have seen her face. Nonetheless, I need to move my stuff to the apartment for now. Start carrying and using those scrawny muscles."

Bella picked up her backpack and took Kol's bag before lifting a box. "Scrawny? Who you calling scrawny?" She said with a strained voice. Damn, this box was heavy.

A throaty chuckle let out from inside. "Maybe I'll just compel some tourists to carry these for us? Sound better?"

"No. Your shit, not theirs… but we could call an Uber."

"Are you paying?"

"Yes! And I'll cook tonight too!" She said as she swayed on her feet and put the box down.

He pouted at that. "Aww, I was hoping to take you to dinner at Nik's favorite bar. We could get some psychotherapy before we leave."

"Kol, I saw your kitchen and I want to make lasagna."

"If you love my kitchen, I wonder how'd you'd react to my brother's."

"Lasagna," she said, dead serious.

"Fine," Kol sighed, dropping a box and pulled out his cell phone. "Myriam! Can you get your minions to get my stuff from the mausoleum and bring it to the compound? Bella and I have some shopping to do then we are taking over the kitchen by you."

Bella's eyes grew big. "No! Your kitchen!"

"What's she making? Some dish. It's all for me, but you and Nik could be jealous while you watch us eat. And yes, this is your punishment for allowing me to make a fool of myself with Bella yesterday - and for what she just pulled on me. You ladies are terrible! Elijah is playing with the council wolves tonight, I hope. I don't feel like dealing with his uppitance. Come to think of Bella's conversation, perhaps our dear brother is gay? What say you?"

Bella smacked her forehead with a flat hand.

"What did she do? Oooh… All we shall mention is Davina Claire…"

Bella winced as she could hear a woman scream so loud over the phone that she could hear it.

"Okay, Dove. See you soon!" Kol said as he hung up and looked at her like the cat caught the canary.

"I take it she's not a fan of Davina?"

He scrunched his face and shook his head. "Not even a little bit. It's a witch thing between those two."

She punched him in the arm. "That's for making me cook lasagna for two people I haven't met before."

"I could call and ask Elijah to reschedule his plans and join the family. Then there is Rebekah who is frolicking the country…"

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Do realize I can ask the spirits to toss you around like a ragdoll tonight."

"Are you truly that vindictive, Miss Bella?" Kol curiously questioned, his eyes bright with excitement. Who knew Saint Bella had a mean streak? Definitely worth exploring that!

"Maybe, maybe not," she shrugged as she readjusted the straps of the bags. "Since you are what you are, the possibilities are endless."

"You'll fit right in with the family," he laughed as he saw two familiar faces of Myriam's lackey's heading their way. "Time to go shopping."

~o.O.o~

While they went for the ingredients she needed to make her lasagna - he wasn't quite sure why she was so insistent on making it - he also got them some snacks and non-alcoholic drinks for at the apartment. Kol could understand she didn't drink alcohol but other than tea and water his choice of beverages was limited to bourbon.

He couldn't help but be worried about Davina and what she might do, but after receiving a text from a mutual friend he felt a lot better. It was a good thing Davina had run straight to Camille. _I don't know who your new friend is or what she's said to Davina, but I like her already. D has finally started her healing process after your break up. Highly doubt she'll be stroppy and coming after you._

Bella was lucky. This time. The next time could end up in a lot of misery for all of them.

He could tell Bella was nervous after he put their groceries in the hallway, ready to go to Nik and Myriam. "What's the worst that could happen? They may not like your lasagna?"

"They may not like me despite what you told me about them?"

"Don't be silly," he put an arm around her and guided her towards the entrance of the compound. "They're very excited to meet you, Myriam in particular."

"Does that building have the same spell as your apartment?"

"No. Everyone knows not to cross Niklaus Mikaelson," he lead her through the gates onto the courtyard. "We're here! Come meet us in the kitchen!" Kol called out before pulling her further into the building.

"There are spirits here," Bella whispered softly. "Not roaming freely but contained and I don't understand why or how. They can't talk or see and…" she held on to Kol as a wave of dizziness washed over her. "I don't think they're aware they should be aware or something…"

"Myriam! Tuck your spirits away, you're confusing the sensitive!"

"No, it's fine," Bella sighed as she tried to close herself off again. "The door went wide open as soon as we got inside, I couldn't stop it."

The brunette vampire appeared, leaning against the balustrade with a pout. "That's not fair. While you were off annoying the Ancestors, I felt the need to poke a few dolls. My family probably has a nice headache. Good for them," she shrugged.

Kol grinned. "Who did you annoy this time? Rick?"

"Of course," Myriam shrugged. "He had it coming," she replied before zooming down the stairs and stopping right in front of Kol and Bella. "Hi, Bella, I'm Myriam, so nice to finally meet you."

"Uh, yeah, same," Bella said slowly, not sure what to make of this Myriam. The spirits were all around her, still bound and gagged and seemingly floating and it was hard to ignore, it made her feel as if she was on a ship on an unruly ocean. "What are you doing to them?"

"I have them in my dolls. Wanna see? My family never agreed with the way I wanted to practice my voodoo. They were all about curses and hexes but I prefer the greater good and even helping some bad who had good in them. Like our family here. Klaus and Kol are prime examples. Anyway, they tried ostracizing me and all, but I got one up on them. Now they fuel my stronger work when needed," she explained.

"Speaking of spells," Kol said teasingly as he looked at his brother's girlfriend. "Did you do a spell that had Bella open up without her having any control over it?"

"Of course, I wanted to see her work for myself, what? Want me to remove the spell from the building? You don't have to hide who you are here, you know."

"If you don't want me to throw up in your dinner, I'd suggest you'd please allow me to close myself off, your spirits are making me woozy," Bella replied kindly. "I understand your curiosity, but this isn't good for me."

Myriam went to a little bowl on a nearby counter and dropped in a herb bundle she had in her pocket before lighting it. "There. It'll dissipate gradually as it burns out. No worries."

"Thank you."

"Hey, Myr, guess what?" Kol grinned as he excitedly bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Monkey butt?"

"Your most favorite person in the world was pining for the gay shell that I had been forced to use."

Myriam's lips twitched, saying nothing as Klaus made his way in appearing confused. Dropping his coat over a chair, he raised a brow. "You were gay?"

"He likely is gay," Myriam muttered and grinned brightly. "But we still love you!"

"Kaleb's gay, keep up, Nik," Kol snapped at his brother.

"I heard you. I'm still trying to get over mother choosing him for you. Was she playing matchmaker?"

"You know as well as I do Kaleb was the weaker witch out of the two and she needed to control me, fat load of luck that did for her, I still managed to outwit the bitch."

Klaus hummed as he nodded, shooting a smile at their guest. "They do say the first step is denial. It'll come in time. Just accept it and we will too."

Kol growled lightly before turning Bella around and gently nudged her towards the kitchen. "They like to pick on me."

"And you allow them to," Bella was amazed by the way the building was built, it was wide and spacious and it looked very old. As Kol lead her down the stairs to where ever, she could feel remnants of spirits pass through her and was confused for a moment before she couldn't feel it anymore as the burning herb bag in the courtyard was removing the magic. Kol then lead her into the kitchen, a fully staffed industrial kitchen and it was huge. "Wow."

"Yep," he agreed as he looked at the staff. "Everybody out, you're done for the day."

"Yes Mr. Mikaelson, have a good day," the staff chorused before walking out.

"The kitchen is all yours, Ms. Bella," Kol smiled at her as he placed the groceries on the counter and hopped on to watch her. "We have all the nice stuff here."

"This is nuts. Why do you need a kitchen the size of this?"

"Sometimes we hold large parties and Nik likes to have the best of everything. I'm still trying to figure out his reasoning for having Myriam…"

Bella hummed something as she looked at how the kitchen was set up; everything was where you would think it was, very logical and very clean. She found utensils and a chopping board without a problem, and even the pans were where she believed they'd be. Strange. "But that's you too, isn't it? Don't you like having the best of everything too?"

"I'm content with most things. There are things that, sure, I wouldn't mind an upgrade to buy a lot isn't necessary. You saw where I used to spend most of my time for awhile. It's not exactly glitz and glam at the mausoleum."

"No," she smiled at that. "But it is the right place if you want to look for a vampire if you have to believe the fictional books," she pointed out as she dove into the bag and got the vegetables out. "And that mausoleum did look quite comfy."

He laughed. "Hardly, love. It served a purpose to teach some witches and create dark objects to protect myself. Usually, over the years, I was in - cramped quarters."

"What? In a coffin?"

Kol shifted a little on the counter and turned away. "Yes."

She sensed he didn't like talking about it, and she wasn't going to press the issue. "I'm a bit worried about you and your family tasting my food, to be honest. No doubt you already had the best lasagna ever over the years," Bella eventually replied as she was chopping the carrots really fine for the base of the sauce. "And I'm not even sure if it'll turn out alright because I haven't cooked in a very long time now."

"Do you even have a home?"

"Nope," Bella shook her head. "I don't see the use of having one when I'm not there, I'm traveling most of the time."

"And what if you aren't? In those months you're saving up?"

"Oh, here and there. I made sure the equipment was safe with Jake so I didn't have to worry about it," she shrugged, moving on to the onions. "Sometimes I go back home and crash on my dad's couch but I don't like staying there too much." Bella stopped chopping and looked at him. "I don't know what to do when the next lull happens. Maybe you can look after the stuff when I'm not doing anything for a longer period of time."

Kol hopped off the counter and made his way over to her to take over chopping of the onions. "Or you can come back here with me. I mean I have the space."

"I'm pretty sure that after this month, you're going to be sick of me and you want me out of your hair," she laughed, shaking her head.

"I don't think so. And if Gilbert's threats are any indication, he'll be here soon enough and neither of us will be able to get rid of that pest."

"Yeah, I know you think it's a great idea to include him and all, but I'm not so sure. It's always been a two people job, this. Why include a third? You already said he can see spirits, but… I don't know."

Kol drew in a breath and set the knife down. "He's stronger than your typical human. He can see ghosts when needed. And he can protect you from me if I lose control. He did kill me after all, so he can get the job done."

"That's just it, I don't want you dead."

"I know but it's simply a precaution. Look, I'm not entirely mad at him and what he did. Not anymore. However, he has a shitty sister who has done my family more harm than good and he and I had been friendly once upon a time. I did tell you there are other things that go bump in the night. He can help you where I cannot."

"You're making it sound as if I'm in constant danger," she snorted as she put some olive oil in the pan followed by her base vegetables. "I'm not. Sure, I've had some bad experiences with some dark spirits and especially the last one was a tough one because I hadn't noticed it, but other than the guys who show up every once in awhile at a location where I'm at, there's no danger when I'm with someone else."

"What guys?"

Bella shrugged. "If I stay at a place for too long, people will notice through my videos and track me down. It's something most people have to deal with when they put out videos with your face in. It's the reason why I need someone who's able to protect me, because I'm not strong enough to punch someone to have them back off. They just laugh."

Kol scratched his head as he was certain she'd never believe what he and Myriam suspected when it came to her and her abilities. "Has your gift gotten stronger? Changed in any way?"

"I don't know," Bella shrugged. "I mean, the last two years were quite… subdued. I've watched the videos. It's basically all the same. It was during my recent time at the convent where things started to clear up. I don't know if my abilities have changed and if so, in what way, because I haven't gone on a trip like that yet."

"You being drawn in by something dark? Yeah. I saw. I'm concerned about what it means because it was more than one location and you were progressively deeper."

"No, the oppression is gone. The dark entity is gone. Priests do come in handy sometimes," she let out a snort. "I'm much more like myself now than I've ever been. Because of what happened in the last two years, I rarely protected myself, couldn't bother."

"You're not listening to me, Bella," he was clearly worried. "The reason why I think Jeremy should join us is that he can see things where you can't. You know as well as I do dark entities can mask themselves as innocents. He could actually tell if you were talking to a light or dark spirit."

"I don't interact with -"

"Bullshit. Jeremy's coming onboard, whether you like it or not," Kol said sternly. "Because you know, you have the potential to become so much better than you already are and it would be a shame to see that talent go to waste. You never had the right people with you and now you do. It's up to you if you're ready for the next step."

"Which is?"

"I don't know yet. I know you do this for the spirits, to make them feel better and relaxed and maybe help them move on, but I'm in charge of your safety and that means Jeremy is coming with."

"Fine," she sighed as she continued working on her sauce with the rest of the ingredients. "But you make it sound that it might be better to quit."

"Oh, never quit, Bella," Kol smiled at her. "Don't be afraid. You're going to be fine and you're going to help spirits for even longer because it's a good thing you're doing."

"Is it? Sometimes I'm not sure."

"Of course it is," he said encouragingly before hopping back onto the counter to watch her move around so elegantly, seemingly being happy to cook a decent meal. "Because by telling their stories, you bring them some peace and that's all we want, isn't it? Closure and peace."

"I suppose," she smiled at him.

"Now, I've told you all about me, or a lot about me, tell me, why don't you like spending time at your dad's?"

Bella let out a breath. "He lives in this very old town, a milling town, there are a lot of dead people there. When I need a break, the worst thing for me to do is to go there," she replied after giving it some thought. "On top of that, we were never close, although I was closer to him than to my mom. She was quite something. I always felt I was wrong somehow. Misunderstood. Out of place. Jake and his family were the only ones who kind of understood, or at least accepted me for who I was. Jake was the one who kept me going, you know. I still feel immensely guilty about what happened with the dark entity latching onto me, I didn't realize. Jake had to deal with a lot of grief that I gave him and.. Yeah… it had reached a boiling point and he left me."

"Were you guys involved in any way?"

"No!" Bella laughed. "Oh god, no. That's like… dating my brother or something. Ew." She visibly shuddered. "Besides, he always had this very strong body odor I tolerated but wouldn't want to have like… on me."

"Did you ever date someone? I mean, you're always moving and going places, can't be easy for a relationship."

She blushed then. "That's a bit too personal, Kol."

"What? I'm telling you all about my life, you know about Davina, hell, you were discussing porn with Kaleb earlier!" He laughed. "Throw me a bone here. Don't tell me you're still a virgin!"

Grabbing the salt and pepper, she seasoned the sauce in the pan. "I tried to be normal for awhile. You know, not this weird person. It's so frustrating to be the way I am so I wanted to be normal. Like anyone else."

Kol leaned back against the counter beside her. "The thing is, you're not normal. So perhaps you would need someone not normal. Wanting to be something you're not is _normal_ , however, it could lead you somewhere that isn't safe for the wrong reasons."

"I ended up with some random guy, I was completely drunk off my ass and we had sex. Consensual. We agreed before we got drunk."

He nodded, not pleased by what he heard as it could have gone a lot worse for her had it been someone not so considerate. "Enough about this now. I have no doubt we have ears listening in."

Bella grabbed another pan and started to make the bechamel sauce with her twist. "I've gotten over the fact of being not like anyone else, because it's a very good defense mechanism, people think you're crazy and they back off," she grinned as she stirred the roux.

"That they do. Especially when they are dealing with some unknown threat," Klaus spoke from the doorway. "Are you faring well here? Anything else you need?"

She peered into the bag that was getting emptier while she cooked. "No, thank you, we were very thorough when we bought the ingredients," Bella smiled at him.

"Just say the word," he nodded, glancing curiously at his brother with a smirk. "Just wanted to share with Kol that - negotiations with the wolves aren't proceeding to Elijah's expectations."

Kol guessed they were likely going to 'party' with the wolves tonight. The sooner the better. "Oh, that's a shame. You're going to get involved at the party tonight?"

With a slight nod, Klaus scowled. "Myriam and I will, once you two are safely out of town on your adventure."

"I could take her to St. James, we were planning on staying in town."

Klaus' head tilted as he considered the option. St. James wasn't far from where Elijah was handling the wolves. "Perhaps. If that's the case then we will send Camille there as well."

Kol then had a thought. "Or, if that pleases you, I could take Bella to Jackson Square, now, that would be a riot! Camille can join, of course."

"You really wish to drive your girlfriend mad?" He questioned. "Even Myriam avoids that area as much as possible."

Bella blinked at Kol. "You're dating someone?"

"I'm talking about you, Sweetheart," Klaus winked. "No Jackson Square. The magic there is too strong."

Kol scowled. "Fine, I'll take her across the bridge to Slidell," he threw his hands up in the air. "You're no fun, brother."

"I'm plenty fun. Ask Myriam."

"Yeah, I was just telling Bella here she needs to get her head examined. Who in their right mind would want to be with you?"

"Hey now," Bella scolded Kol. "Leave me out of this," she grabbed the bottle of port and poured some of it in the sauce. "And I'm not his girlfriend, Klaus. I'm not girlfriend material."

"Is that what you think? Perhaps you should be more open to the living around you rather than the dead. It may surprise you what you find," he smiled and walked out only to be tackled by his brother, leaving her in the kitchen for the moment.

Bella was surprised by Kol's sudden burst of activity, pushing his brother away from the kitchen and she could feel a slight trembling sensation going through the concrete of the floor; something Kol had warned her about - they were vampires, they could get rough with each other.

It was strange how _normal_ her life had become in the last two days. Once over the initial shock of Kol finding her and then running to him when a vampire wanted her as a snack, she had felt at ease. Really at ease. Perhaps it was the good night's rest that she had, or the effect Kol's apartment had on her. Or how Kol was trying to take care of her. And she fought him hard on that front, she knew that. It was her independence and her pride.

When Bella put out the call for a new partner, she hadn't expected someone like Kol would respond to it and it was still strange. And for Klaus referring to her as Kol's girlfriend? That was just not done. Things like that didn't happen in the real world. As if. Maybe it happened in the old days - in fact, she knew it happened in the old days where some girl would meet some guy and then marry the next day because it was good for their families, but no. In this day and age it would be strange. And girlfriend? Please. He could get someone way better than her.

She greased up the oven dish and shook her head. She'd only met Kol the day before. She wondered if she'd stop fighting him on things if things would change for the worst or for the better. Would she be willing to give up more control? What would happen if she did?

Klaus laughed as he lay on the floor in the hall with his furious brother on top of him. "Touched a nerve, did I?"

"Keep your mouth shut! She's not ready to hear _everything_!" Kol hissed. "You know what she did today? From the goodness of her heart, she convinced Davina to let go of Kaleb and see if she had a shot with me still."

"You've been over the teenage witch for months. Why would she do something so reckless when you are interested in her?"

"Because Bella doesn't know I'm interested in her like _that_ , Nik. I'm working my way up to telling her without sounding like a stalker," He grabbed his brother by the jacket and shook him. "But don't worry, according to Camille we've dodged a bullet, and my rejection actually helped Davina to finally move on without any repercussions, your ass is safe from witchy interference."

Klaus grunted at the thought of having to deal with the young witch again. "A bloody pest that one. I like this girl more."

"Yes, so do I, but she's something special and I just want to make her happy and help her find her true self. Yes, she's more focused on the dead - it likely made her unaware of how the living react, but dammit, Klaus, call her my girlfriend again and she might run and I don't know if I can survive that."

"Oh, that's alright, I'll just box you until you've learned your lesson."

Kol growled and smacked his brother on the floor again. "Treat Bella lightly, you hear? Not everything you say hits her, or it hits her later. She's special and she's mine to take care of."

"Does that still happen?" Bella's voice sounded from behind them. "Two people meet and bam, they decide to be together in a relationship the next day?"

"Well shit," Kol growled at his brother. "Look what you did."

Klaus pushed his brother off of him and got to his feet, dusting himself off as he looked at Bella. "The human community don't necessarily do that anymore, but us supernatural creatures work differently, love," he said kindly. "While yes, us vampires can be very lustful and have many lovers, we simply seem to know when someone crosses our path that we can't forget. There's usually an instant deep connection to that other person and we end up with them within a short period of time without even knowing much about them. It's almost like a leap of faith, but knowing beforehand you will be safe."

"Nik, no," Kol told him off as he saw Bella look thoughtfully. "Don't."

She hummed and bounced a little on her feet before turning around to finish the lasagna before it went into the oven. "That explains a lot."


	6. Chapter 5

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Kol walked after her, slightly spooked by what she had just said. So far, she hadn't given _any_ indication about her feelings for him in any shape or form other than being pleasant with him and at ease because it didn't happen that way. Not with him, because it just didn't happen.

"It explains why your brother called me your girlfriend," she replied as she finished topping the lasagna and shoved it into the oven, cleaning the counter was the next step. "He's seriously old fashioned and I'm really glad you're not."

"Ha!" Kol laughed as he turned to his brother and pointed at him. "She thinks you're old fashioned and she's right!"

"I'm only a few years older than you," Klaus frowned. "If she think I'm old fashioned then she should meet Elijah."

"She'd likely consider him to be quite dead," he snorted, leaning against the doorway to block the entrance from his brother. There was no way he was going to allow Nik to get inside now. In this case, it was a good thing Bella perceived the world differently.

"She will figure it before you are ready yourself," Klaus shrugged, brushing him off. Turning to walk away, he added. "I doubt you would be able to handle _that_!"

Kol reached for the nearest item and propelled it towards his brother who ducked. "I won't miss next time!"

"Hey, be nice," Bella chided him sweetly. "He's a romantic, it's adorable. No doubt he treats Myriam like a queen."

"Yeah, she makes him," Kol huffed, turning back to Bella. "So, what's next now that your lasagna is in the oven?"

"Make the table?"

"It's already set in the dining room," Kol confirmed. "How about I show you around a little?" He held out his hand for her to take. "The building is quite big and beautiful. Completely different from how I decorated." He then smiled widely. "I'm pretty sure you'll get a kick out of the library. Such a great source of history."

Bella allowed him to show her around the building, and he was right, it was a beautiful place, but so big. Why would a person need a building this big? She'd gone to abandoned houses that were huge, and they had small families live in them, or some even big families, but this was just Klaus and Myriam. And this Elijah. Occasionally their sister. Did they really need this much space? Granted, it felt like a home, but when she briefly opened herself up, she felt there was more going on. "You do realize apart from Myriam's spirits that are with her, that there's quite a few here?"

"Oh yes, very likely. Why? You want to hug them?"

"No," Bella smiled then. "They seem to be quite content here, roaming the halls, keeping an eye out for any trouble, enjoying themselves with all the drama going on inside these walls. Surprisingly I don't feel anything bad here. Or perhaps Myriam has banished them. That could quite possibly be the case."

"Correct," Myriam's voice sounded from behind them. "Negative energy only fuels a vampire's anger. The family all calmed down once I got rid of the idiots."

"Hmm yes. Nik is as scary as a golden retriever puppy nowadays," Kol mumbled.

"That might change at the party tonight," Myriam grinned. "You sure you want to miss it?"

"I think Bella is a little prettier than my brother to spend my evening with, thank you."

"Okay," Myriam smiled. "So, when's the lasagna ready? It smells delicious already! This one time when I was in Bologna, oh god, that lasagna was divine! Like… orgasmic. Haven't had a decent lasagna since, well, unless Nik arranges an Italian chef, of course."

"Not for another half an hour," Bella muttered, again hating Kol for dragging her to his brother and his girlfriend. She was certain they weren't going to like her lasagna, but at least she was going to. She had wanted to share her lasagna with Kol, because he was so generous to her and helping her out. It was like sharing a piece of her and now she was going to share that piece of her with more people. And she was sure they weren't going to like it, no matter how delicious it smelled.

Kol had told her that she herself smelled delicious and he didn't want to eat her.

Yep, totally overthinking it all. Bella excused herself from Kol and Myriam and headed back to the kitchen where she sat down on the counter and just stared at the lasagna, willing it to be done already. She was hungry. She was pretty sure there wasn't a 'party' tonight, no, Klaus and Myriam were going to join Elijah and likely kick some wolf ass. And Bella wasn't even scared or angry about it. No, it was a part of their life, part of the way they lived.

Like Kol said, he wasn't an angel and likely his siblings weren't either, but she trusted that this asskicking would be just. A means to an end, after all, she had heard Elijah had been trying to deal with the wolves for a while now. It was sweet how his family wanted him to join them but that he chose Bella over them. They were going to try out the new equipment anyway, but it gave her a warm fuzzy feeling that Kol wanted to stay.

Once the lasagna was done, she brought the dish to the dining room where Myriam, Klaus and Kol were already waiting, eagerly. "Oh," Bella let out a breath as she carefully placed the dish on the table. "I hope this is to your liking, but I'm totally ready to eat this."

"It smells delicious," Klaus replied with a smile on his face and rose to his feet. "I generally don't allow new guests to my house to take over my kitchen and cook without a proper meet first."

Myriam and Kol both sat back in their chairs and rolled their eyes exasperatedly. "Is this necessary? Just let her settle in and get used to us before you spread your peacock feathers," she remarked.

He leaned on the table and intently looked at Bella, his true face coming out. "Is this poisoned?"

"You're ugly," Bella replied calmly, not flinching. "Are you going to dish out the lasagna or shall I? Because I'm really starving."

"Yes Nik, feed our guest the delicious smelling food she so kindly made for us," Kol remarked, not amused by the antics.

"I'm impressed," Klaus replied as his face returned to normal and pointed to a chair for Bella to sit. "You're not scared at all, here I thought you were easily scared by things not pertaining to your dead friends," he said as he plated up the lasagna. "My apologies for not assisting you in carrying the meal up, my brother, Myriam and I were too engrossed in our conversation."

"I made the food, of course I bring it to the table," Bella blinked, anxiously awaiting for Klaus to be done plating up, the familiar smell of her lasagna hitting her, making her feel so happy.

Myriam took a roll and threw it at Klaus. "Hurry up with the food or I'll cut you off. We are hungry."

Klaus eventually sat down with a smirk on his face. "Happy?" He asked Myriam before looking at Bella. "Thank you for this meal, Bella, you didn't have to go through all the trouble to do this."

"I hope you like it," Bella said as she started to dig in.

He smiled knowingly and started eating, keeping his curious gaze on her. He could see why Kol was enthralled by her. She certainly was enchanting. "Delicious. You are certainly welcome to cook for the family any time you desire. Even if this dinner was the result of the games my brother and Myriam enjoy playing."

"Yeah, I kinda wanted the spirits to tease him tonight for doing this to me," Bella nodded. "I only wanted to cook for him."

"Oh I'm sure that they would happily comply for you. All you need is ask," Klaus answered with his arm gesturing to the open span of the compound.

"Oh, not these spirits," Bella smiled. "Maybe the spirits of wherever Kol's taking me tonight." She had finished her plate in no time and saw there was still some left. "Does anyone else want some more?"

"No, go ahead," Kol laughed. "Where are you keeping all that food though?"

"In my belly," Bella replied as she took another spoonful of lasagna on her plate. "This is my comfort food, I love the whole process of making it. Granted, I used a cheat, but this usually takes days to make… I rarely got the chance to make this in the last couple of years."

"We don't get homemade food like this. Everything is made by a different fancy chef each week Klaus nabs from area restaurants," Myriam spoke between bites. "I'll take this over his fanciness any day."

"This is really good indeed," Klaus agreed. "But we can hardly expect the girl to cook for us every day."

"I can cook!" Myriam growled.

"No dear, you have the talent to make water burn."

"You're really holding that over my head? After three hundred years, you still hold that over me?" Myriam huffed as she took another bite. "We'll continue this conversation later."

Klaus smirked over his glass of wine. "I look forward to it, Love."

"Oh, don't be so smug about it. I'm going to win," Myriam replied, leveling her gaze on him.

"Perhaps another time then?" He relied standing from his seat and looked at the door.

"Hi," a voice sounded and Bella looked at the young man standing in the doorway. "Kol, dude! I went over to your apartment but you weren't there so I came here and I struck gold! And there's food left over! Oh man," Bella recognized him to be Jeremy, Kol's friend, as he sauntered in, took Kol's fork and started to eat straight from the oven dish. "Oh, this is good," he said with his mouth full. "Much better than Damon's - don't tell him I said that."

"What kind of uncultured swine are you?" Myriam shot at the boy, not taking any action because even Klaus seemed to be slightly surprised and hesitant about the boy's presence.

"Gilbert," Kol sucked in a breath as he got to his feet and looked at his friend who was still eating happily on his feet, with the dish in his hand. "I know you've been raised by wolves and all, but at least sit down while you enjoy your dinner."

Jeremy shrugged and took the empty seat next to Bella as he extended his hand to her. "Jeremy Gilbert. We met last night on the TV thing. I'm so glad we're teaming up, it's going to be epic."

"You weren't kidding when you said you might be in town," Kol interrupted, shoving a glass of wine in his hand in attempt to keep space between Bella and his friend. "You should have called first, _mate_."

"Nah, just to see the looks on your faces is priceless," Jeremy grinned as he scraped the oven dish. "So, we're going ghost hunting tonight?"

"It's not hunting," Bella muttered, slightly uncomfortable with the ball of energy next to her. "We're going to visit."

"Call it - exploring. Hunting implies killing. We aren't trying to kill ghosts," Kol commented as he sat back down, grumpier than after his interactions with his brother.

"It's still hunting," Jeremy shrugged, grabbing a roll and taking a bite out of it.

"You're not coming with, tonight," Bella stated, shaking her head. His energy was overwhelming. "I don't know you, we haven't spoken and I haven't instructed you. You're not coming with." She then turned to him to stare him down. "And if you do follow us, you won't be happy, got it?"

"Woah, Bella, chill," he put his hands up in defense. "No need to be this hostile. I thought you were this cute, chill girl, you know."

"I'm not. I'm putting my foot down."

Kol sipped on wine/blood, saying nothing. He didn't have to as he was proud of his girl standing up to a strong being like Gilbert.

"Alright," Jeremy replied, a smile on his face. "I have to respect that. You're absolutely right."

"She's mine all night. And you can bunk here with Nik and Elijah while you're at it," Kol finally piped up.

"He's not staying here!" Klaus objected. "There is no way I will share my living space with a Gilbert. He can stay at your place."

"I still haven't paid for my room at the hostel, Jeremy can go there," Bella shrugged as she got up to clear the plates. "He'll have a blast."

Kol's dark eyes glittered at the thought. "Yes. We can walk you there and make sure you settle in. I'm sure the kids will just _love_ you. Special treatment, yes, Bella?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Bella nodded as she placed the dirty dishes in the empty oven dish. "I think that Ms. Margret will just love the boy. Let me clean these dishes and then we can go," she flashed him a smile before walking off to the kitchen.

Kol took off after her, taking the stack from her hands to deposit in the kitchen before returning, appearing in front of her. "We have staff for that. Let's get rid of the pest so it is only a party of two tonight," he whispered.

"Playing with new toys," she grinned as she looped her arm through his while they walked to their bags.

He shook his head, smiling. "You a toy? Never. I'll rip the head off anyone that does consider you one."

"You weren't talking about testing the new equipment? Did our plans change?"

"I'm sure if I ask nicely, we can have the place to ourselves to test your goodies but Nik asked we stay off the streets particularly tonight. This place has a lot of history but is spelled to protect against supernatural that has intentions to cause harm," he murmured in her ear.

"Don't think it's wise to test here because people might recognize this place," she replied as she couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine. "Fine, we're staying in but tomorrow we'll go somewhere, yes?"

"Sure. Anywhere you want," Kol blindly agreed as his fingers pet her arm that was wrapped around his.

Bella grinned. "I'll put up a poll for people to vote on." Once they had her bag and Kol's - which still had the equipment, Bella turned to Jeremy. "Come, we'll show you where you'll be staying for the duration of our stay in New Orleans."

After showing Jeremy to the hotel and making sure his first night was going to be quite interesting, Kol took Bella back home, to the apartment. Yeah, he was pissed his brother didn't want them on the streets, but he understood why. The wolves could come after them and while Kol was more than capable of taking care of himself, Bella was a different story.

He and Bella spoke about Jeremy on the way back; he had already noticed Jeremy's energy was too much for her and that it would require a few encounters for her to be able to deal with it. Yes, Jeremy was pretty much like an overexcited labrador, but he meant well and was extremely capable.

It pleased him that Nik and Myriam wanted to protect her as much as he did. But he had made a promise, he had been lugging around the new equipment for most of the day and they hadn't used it. No, tomorrow was going to be the day, because she really wanted it.

She was set up with her laptop at the table in the kitchen after making a pot of tea and went to _work_. Kol found it endearing she cared so much about her audience and watched her for a little while as she tinkered with her website. Removing her wish list. Removing most of Jake. Cleansing her website and refreshing everything.

[blog post] _Hi guys! Here's a quick update of how things are going here in New Orleans._

 _Things have been strange, but quite fascinating. Here's a link to some audio I captured in the hotel I stayed at. It was continuous and there was no sleep haha._

 _I've made a new friend and he's going to help me document things for you. With him also comes new equipment and OMG I can't wait to test them! Where would you like us to go? Vote in the poll below :-)_

 _Bella._

 _Where are we going tomorrow?_

 _Jackson Square_

 _Jazz Club_

 _University_

 _Rose Theatre_

 _Cemeteries_

"Nik is going to kill you for wanting to go to Jackson Square," Kol mused as he looked over her shoulder. "Seriously, it's not a good idea. At least inside a building we're free to use everything."

"We'll see," Bella shrugged as she turned to him. "I'm done for the night, what are you up to?"

"Watching you, of course," he whispered in her ear, closing her laptop for her. Kol had been invading her personal space the entire day now and she didn't seem to mind. Or find him creepy. A lot of people found it creepy, but it appeared she thought it was normal or maybe she did like him so close to her after all. "Snacks are on the table, what movie do you want to watch?"

Bella thought for a moment as she looked at him. "Hmm… instead of a movie, how about I kick your ass with the game you were playing yesterday? You have an extra controller, right?"

"You play videogames?"

"Are you kidding me? Jake lugged his xbox with him everywhere we went!"

"Then you're on," Kol smirked as he went over to the living room. "You are so on."

~o.O.o~

They went for breakfast the next morning at some tiny but cute sandwich shop and Jeremy looked absolutely drained and tired. "Aw, look, Gilbert didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Kol said teasingly as he looked at his friend. "Rough night?"

"Man, I wasn't even trying to see stuff but all those kids kept running into my room, stomping their feet, throwing those toys around… Singing songs… Poking me on the bed…" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "And when I cursed, it felt like a bucket of ice cold water was getting dumped on me."

"Better you than me. We barely got through our initial introduction because of those little monsters," Kol laughed at him.

"And then there was that nun!" Jeremy cried out. "I think I got smacked by a ruler on my ass a few times while I tried to sleep!"

"Next time politely ask if they'd leave you alone, or at least stay out of your room," Bella said with a shrug, taking a bite off her sandwich.

"You could have burned sage in the room," Kol added.

Jeremy huffed. "I'm going to find my own hotel if I can't stay with you guys, this place was nuts," he said as he took a swig of his coffee. "So, am I in?"

"In?" Bella blinked.

"Did I pass your little test?"

"No," she shook her head and then pointed at Kol. "But he didn't either, at first, so…"

"That's because I'm cuter than you," Kol smiled. "She should make you squirm more for finishing up her lasagna that was meant for us."

"I was hungry and it was food."

"Buy your own."

"Didn't your parents ever teach you to share?"

"No. They were too busy trying to kill us," Kol easily replied, then looked to Bella. "Do you know where you and I are going tonight?"

"No, I haven't closed the poll yet," she said, before looking at Jeremy. "Okay, here's the deal - Kol sort of insisted you'd join us because of what you can do and of who you are. However, you need to bring your energy down to a normal level. You have like… this presence I can't get around of, like a brick wall."

"And you're saying he's got good energy?" Jeremy pointed at Kol. "That's rich."

"No, I'm saying Jeremy is like a booster and a blocker all rolled into one. So unless you can get it sorted, you can join us, but stay at a distance."

"I've been called a lot of names, but blocker?"

"And if you do come with, you will not provoke anything or anyone. Yeah, you can react to them, but treat them with respect. Even if you get provoked, try not to lash out because that could escalate things, think you can do that?"

Kol intentionally looked away, finding any sort of distraction as they all knew he would have the most difficulty. Jeremy just didn't know how well he'd been since meeting Bella. "I'll do my best to figure it out," the boy agreed solemnly.

"So yeah, sort out your energy and we're good. I can't pay you anything, I can pay for food, your hotel and travel, but there's no salary."

"I'm good. Just needed a reason to get out of town. I have my own money," Jeremy shrugged.

"Okidoki," she smiled at him before continuing to eat her sandwich. "I leave the rest up to Kol, we discussed things at length, but he has his own ideas and I just have to let go of _some_ control and trust him to make sure the viewers get the good stuff." Bella had a feeling she needed to take it easy today, something told her that tonight was going to be quite exciting and that was without having checked where her viewers wanted them to go. "Can I stop thinking now?"

"By all means Darling. What shall we do in the meanwhile?" Kol asked, fiddling with his phone.

"Well, I suppose I'll be looking for ways to lower my energy or at least stop myself from broadcasting it," Jeremy said as he finished his coffee and looked at Kol, worried. He didn't like antsy vampires. "What's on your mind?"

Kol glanced at his phone. "Waiting on Nik to let me know how last night went. I'm sure he's holed up with Myriam," he shrugged. "As far as you… maybe drink some camomile tea? I hear it's very calming."

"I am calm," Jeremy replied truthfully. "I'm freaking tired because I didn't sleep last night. Still not good enough. But sure, I'll go and drink litres of camomile tea and maybe I'll be good enough to join you two tonight."

Kol huffed as he thought about something in regards to Bella's safety. If there were people following her, after her, wherever she went, why have her viewers vote for where she'd go and spend some time with the ghosts? It was like she was painting a huge target on her back. He understood she wanted to give her viewers what they wanted, but this was her life here. She was already in New Orleans like they requested and voted for, but to vote for specific locations? "I know just the place to explore tonight," he eventually said, looking at Bella. "Nothing of that list you posted this morning."

"What? But-"

"Nope, not hearing it. From now on, no more polls asking your viewers where you're going to go next. Got it?"

"Random on purpose. I like it," Jeremy said thoughtfully. "Helps keeping crazies from showing up."

Kol raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean like you?"

"Oh no, you're stuck with me, mate," Jeremy grinned but nodded towards Bella. "Safer for her to not disclose locations."

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but she had said she needed to free up some control and stuff, trusting Kol. "Fine, but you agreed you'd take me wherever I wanted," she retorted as she waggled her eyebrows at him. "How about an abandoned mental asylum? Surely you've got at least one of those here."

Jeremy smiled. "Yeah. Plus I heard of a place that was like a nursing home for witches. Is that still kicking?"

"Despite Bella's objections, her abilities make her a witch. Do you really think I would bring her in there knowing she can't get out?" Kol shot at Jeremy.

"So that rumor is true? I didn't know…"

"We can go to the Fleur-de-Lis Sanatorium. It's been abandoned for years. Who knows what might be going on there?" Kol offered Bella after looking on the internet for some unknown haunts. "According to the internet, one of those big paranormal investigation teams have been there recently, wouldn't it be fun to debunk everything they came up with?"

"That's not nice," Bella sighed.

"But they're doing it to you, too," Jeremy countered. "The amount of times they put your footage on TV and discuss it in shows, it's insane."

"It'll be fun, but if you have an idea that's not on that poll, I'm more than open to negotiate," Kol added as he passed his laptop to her so she could read about his suggestion.

Bella sucked in a breath as she looked at pictures of the building. "It's big, I've never done a three story building before."

"Four, if you count the basement," Kol added. "You don't have to go to every level, you know. We could just start on base level. If you like it, we can always return."

"What about permits? Insurance? I mean, it's not a public location so it's really hard to-"

"Let me worry about that, darling," he smiled at her. "While Jeremy here is going to see if he can lower his energy today, you can go home and prepare and then I will make sure everything is in order."

"It's still a huge building."

"Yes, imagine all the spirits stuck there, it's going to be awesome," Jeremy grinned, bouncing in his seat from excitement.

Bella faced him, slowly shaking her head. "How old are you again?"

"If he can't figure his shit out by tonight, I'll make sure Myriam has something he can have on him to help," Kol murmured, resting his chin on her shoulder, as he leaned closer to open another link about the location.

"The less I know about this location, the better," Bella said as she turned her head towards his, they were almost nose to nose. "Let's go to this place."

He grinned, winking at her. "Consider it done. I'll go handle the paperwork. Are you going to hang out at the apartment or do you want to hang out at the compound?"

"Oh no, the apartment for sure," Bella replied, not even thinking about her options. "I'll take down the poll on the website and then relax. Maybe take a bath."

"Great, I'll walk you there before I go and run our errands."


	7. Chapter 6

It was easy to get the right documents and insurance for what they were planning that night; a simple compulsion got him everything he wanted. On the way back, he picked up lunch for the both of them and stopped by the compound to check up on his brother. "Nik?"

Klaus appeared on the balcony, wearing nothing but a loose pair of sleep pants. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be following the pretty young investigator around on a leash?"

Kol smirked, he loved interrupting his brother while he was having fun with Myriam, knowing it frustrated the both of them to no end. "I was worried when you didn't check in with me after last night's party."

"Myriam was rather - preoccupied afterwards. You understand," Klaus replied, the corner of his lips turning upward. "It's rather difficult to say no, however all went as well as expected. Elijah is off attempting to make peace with the witches now. Our sister is still off, frolicking across the country in search of _love_."

"Alright," he replied with a nod. "Uhm, Myriam should expect a visit from young Gilbert. His energy is bothering Bella a lot and while he's attempting to find a way to remedy this, I doubt he will within the next couple of hours. It's likely got something to do with the fact that he's an abomination."

The hybrid let out a cry of success and raised his hands in triumph. "Ah! So he finally has come to realize reality! Let us shout it from the rooftops! Kol Mikaelson has finally acknowledged the truth behind the Gilbert and Petrova family of the grand Mystic Falls! Abominations the lot of them and only useful for their blood."

Laughing as she walked out of their room, pulling her robe around her, Myriam rolled her eyes. "Quit your grandstanding. The boy was never meant to become a medium and the abilities were forced on him. The hunter in him clashes with that so I'm actually rather surprised it took Bella this long to reach her limit around him."

Kol stood in the center of the courtyard, hand in his pockets, as he stared up at the couple with a blank expression on his face. After getting to know Myriam as he had, he quickly learned that this was normal between her and his brother. Especially after his brother's audacious display. "So, about Jeremy's energy. You have anything that can help?"

"Oh yeah," Myriam nodded as she turned her attention away from Klaus. He merely stood there with his arm around her waist to hold her close, a smirk upon his lips. "Just stop by on your way to wherever you go tonight and I'll have it ready. I - don't think I'm going to get on it at the moment, but I'll get it," she grinned, growling when Klaus went for her neck. "Uh - yeah, later…" She managed to just squeak out the words before the other vampire pulled her back into their bedroom.

Well, that sure was the end of their conversation. Kol headed to the kitchen to grab a blood bag and made sure to drink it before heading back to the apartment with their lunch. The apartment was too quiet when he returned, and soon discovered a passed out Bella on the sofa. He quickly assessed she was in fact, asleep and not knocked out by anything else, and quietly put away the groceries.

It wasn't fair. All he wanted was to love her like his brother loved Myriam. Have her squirm underneath him in pure ecstasy. Kol's self control surprised him, because in the past, he would have started to manipulate her so he'd get what he wanted and take it. No matter the costs, no matter the feelings of her. But Bella was different.

While she was mostly out of step with real life, almost a childlike innocence, there were moments where she was this force not to be reckoned with. Like with Jeremy or even with him, talking about her work. Her rules. But what fascinated Kol the most was her dark side. Her dark side would be so interesting to explore; her vindictiveness sounded delightful. Just last night, she had pleasantly asked the matron at the hotel to make sure Jeremy was alright, and if she could check up on him regularly. The children were more than welcome in his room because he was a grump. And Bella had known the consequences, but she didn't quite care.

And that was awesome.

He cherished the moments where she allowed him into her personal space, invading her privacy and feeling her breath on his face. Had she been anyone else, he'd likely been slapped silly for it, but he figured that she had so much experience with ghosts coming close to her that she didn't mind.

For a long time she had been his obsession on the internet. Now it was the second full day since he met her and he was absolutely smitten.

He needed to do something, just merely looking at her as she slept was quite the creepy thing to do and decided to set up her new laptop for her, transporting everything from her old thing to the external hard drive. Bella kept all the raw footage from the cameras and voice recordings and everything was just a treasure trove of proof for paranormal investigators. Kol had always felt she kept some discoveries or experiences to herself because of reasons - she likely didn't want anyone else to know or the information couldn't be validated.

While he was working on her laptop, a news alert about her popped up on his phone, it was a picture of Bella at the cemetery yesterday, sitting on the steps as she talked to Kaleb. People on the video site often were recognized 'in the wild' but this picture made him angry. She was his, not theirs, and he was going to ask Jeremy to track this person down so Kol could make a meal out of them. He sent the link to Jeremy and then looked at the picture again. It was a good picture of Bella, though, he actually kinda liked it.

It was an hour or two later when Bella jolted awake, looking around to get her bearings before relaxing again. "Good afternoon," Kol greeted her. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm," Bella sighed as she sat up, running her hand through her hair, untangling it a little bit. "Yeah, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You're always welcome to fall asleep here. Just let me know next time and I may join you," Kol teasingly flirted. "I give great cuddles!"

"Couch is too small for that," Bella retorted before getting up to get herself a glass of water. "Is that my laptop?"

"Yep, and I made sure everything on your new laptop works the same and has everything so you can use that one instead."

"You didn't have to do that."

He blinked at that. "You're not going to scold me for doing this? I mean, I could have gone through all your emails and stuff!"

"The only emails I receive are related to what I do. Invitations to visit locations or to join forces or requests for interviews. There's nothing personal on that laptop, so why would I scold you for that?" She smiled as she took a sip of water. "But thank you for the new laptop, the old one feels as if it's about to explode," Bella then let out a giggle. "You spoil me too much."

That giggle was endearing and sending pleasurable tingles through his body. He wanted to hear it again. "As I said yesterday, darling, it's merely a small drop in a bucket. You need these things and I can provide."

Moving over to him, she pecked him on the cheek. "Thank you, but it has to stop, okay? No more new toys."

"I promise," he smiled at her before handing her the papers for access to the sanatorium. "Access whenever we want to, as many times as we want to."

"How did you do that?!" Bella gasped, looking at the papers in complete shock before she remembered he was a vampire. "You can make people do things, can't you?"

"Yep. It's called compulsion. Don't worry, I won't ever do it to you. I doubt I even could," he then sighed dramatically. "I can't even compel Gilbert, which is a shame."

"Does that damage someone's brain?"

"No, don't worry."

She handed the papers back. "This is amazing," she took another sip of her water. "Thank you!"

Kol was surprised this information didn't mess with her ideology. That she didn't seem to mind this new, for some, frightening, information. "Imagine the possibilities, Bella. We could get into buildings nobody gets access to, tell stories nobody heard before."

"One location at the time, Kol," she replied, a smile dancing on her lips. "I still have to see if I'll survive the sanatorium, it's the first building in a while, and certainly the first after I took a break. The first one that I'll be completely free of anything."

"Are you nervous?"

"Yeah, I am," Bella said slightly annoyed. "Because it'll also be the first time with you."

"No it's not. There was the hotel and Kaleb…"

"Quite different, really. I was already in the hotel and Kaleb was the only one at the cemetery. Now there might be hundreds of spirits, it'll be night time in a huge building and it's freaking me out."

"Relax," Kol fought the urge to pull her into his arms and hold her. "Nothing's going to happen, you've got me with you and Jeremy will be there, too. You'll be safe."

Bella walked over to her backpack, Kol had noticed she always repacked the bag in the morning and basically carried all of her belongings with her; she hadn't placed her toothbrush in the bathroom or put dirty clothes in the hamper - he wasn't even sure if she had more clothes but it was likely they were in the trolley with her old equipment. Or not. Maybe. She retrieved a sachet of herbs and muttered something about taking a bath to hopefully relax her some more.

What Bella needed wasn't a relaxing bath. There were much more fun ways to relax, according to Kol. He could make her as relaxed as a person could be. Just thinking about having sex with her made him hungry. While Bella was in the bathroom, he took a blood bag from the fridge in the guest room and kept an ear out to hear when Bella was ready as he drank. He didn't want her to see him drink blood.

While their 'wine' last night at dinner wasn't wine, he wasn't sure if Bella had noticed. If she had, she wasn't showing it, but he didn't want to feed in front of her. No. Not if he could help it. But, on their way to the sanatorium after dinner, he was going to compel a human to stay outside for him if he needed it. Yes. Good idea.

Bella's anxiety made him nervous.

Great.

Bella was a lot more relaxed after her bath and he received a text message from Jeremy that he was going to see Myriam because some witches were clueless about his energy and he really wanted to come with tonight. Bella wanted to bring her old camera with her as well, and her voice recorder, but all the new stuff went along.

Armed with her backpack, him with the equipment bag and papers, they walked to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet Jeremy and where Kol was going to fill him in on his job - Bella was done talking about it and Kol could completely understand that. In a way, she made Kol feel that Jeremy was his responsibility because he wanted him onboard.

Not necessarily. But the hunter had been on his way to New Orleans for an interview for Kol's position and if someone like him was drawn to her, then it must be for a reason.

Bella bought a handful of sage sticks as they passed a witches' shop, explaining to Kol she wants to make sure that when they get out of the sanatorium that they were clean. It was one of her new rules to implement to stay safe - despite Myriam being a voodoo priestess and all.

The small restaurant they went to was tucked away in a corner where not a lot of tourists frequented, but the food was exceptional and typical for the region. Kol knew the atmosphere would be relaxed, because he wasn't sure if he could handle another jolt of Bella being anxious without the safety of his home.

He knew that even with her spirit door seemingly closed, there was always something in the back of her mind. He had experienced it the day before as they walked the streets. She still felt everything, heard everything, just not as intense as when she'd be open. Kol merely hoped the spirits in the restaurant were friendly and wouldn't make her upset or something.

The restaurant was a converted house. Very small, very intimate. There was no doubt Jeremy would soon crash in, which was a pity, but then again, Kol and Bella weren't dating. This wasn't a date. This was a job.

"Oh, the smells from the kitchen, it's so good!" Bella said giddily as she sat down at their table. "How did you find this place?"

"When you're bored, you roam," Kol said with half a shrug. "I know tons more of these places but I'm not willing to share them with Gilbert," he winked.

"What about with me?"

"You and I can visit one every day if you like," he replied, smiling to himself that she was thinking of such a thing.

"I'd like that, but cooking something yourself is fun too."

"I know how to cook plenty. I could make you some things that would knock your socks off. I just don't see the point in cooking for just myself and Nik always has his cook of the week."

"Yeah, cooking for yourself isn't fun," Bella nodded. "Or cooking for multiple people and not have your food touched - that's even worse."

"We're talking about food?" Jeremy's head popped in, a big smile on his face. "Man, this place is hard to find!"

"That was kind of the point," Kol mumbled unhappily that their time was interrupted so soon. "You seemed to find it fast enough," he glared.

"I'm a hunter, it's what I do," Jeremy smirked as he sat down across from Bella. "Well? Do I feel good enough to join you guys tonight?"

The energy was still there, but it felt contained. Much like how Myriam contained the spirits she worked with. Jeremy wasn't emitting anything right now and that was just great. "Yep, you're good."

Kol cracked his neck, attempting to contain his personal irritation. A small bit of him had hoped Myriam wouldn't succeed in their request. "You know how to use the video cameras?"

"Yeah, should be easy enough," Jeremy replied, relaxing in his seat. "Point and shoot, avoiding your ugly mug."

"These aren't your normal handhelds. A little higher quality, but yes. I'll record the two of you while you focus on Bella as much as possible. Anything with me could be edited as necessary, depending on how well I can hold myself together when the dead try to provoke me."

"We'll attempt to redirect them to me when they come after you, how's that?" Jeremy let out a snort. "Dude, it'll be fine."

Kol couldn't help but to start laughing. "It doesn't always work that way. I doubt that most would be just as uncooperative with us as I was when I was dead and trying to haunt your troublesome friends."

"You're a freaking menace," Jeremy pointed out. "Dead or alive."

"I did try warning you all that Silas would be nothing but trouble. Do you regret not believing me now?"

"Yeah, dude killed me," he muttered.

"I should just dangle you in front of those paranormal hunters - You want to know what happens after death? These two can tell you!" Bella snickered as she smiled up at the waitress who came to take their order. "Hi! What a lovely restaurant you have!"

"Thanks! The building is pretty old and has its quirks," the waitress replied. "Anyway, my name is Candi and I'll be serving you tonight. Is there anything I can get you now?" She asked as she handed them each a menu, giving the boys, especially Kol, a not so subtle wink.

He frowned, taking the menu from her, purposely moving his chair closer to Bella. "Thank you. We will let you know when we are ready to order."

"Would you like anything to drink while you look at the menu?"

"Hmm, I have something in mind," Kol muttered, looking away.

Jeremy kicked Kol underneath the table. "A coke for me, please," he smiled at the waitress. "And a red wine for my friend. Bella?"

"Water will do me, thanks," she replied as she gently rubbed Kol's arm. What was going on?

"Alright, a coke, wine and a water," Candi said, almost sounding disapproving of the water as she turned on her heel and headed to the bar.

"Hey," Bella said softly as she continued to rub Kol's arm. "What's up?"

"She's annoying. What kind of name is Candi anyway? I bet she wouldn't taste like any candy I've had."

"Likely short for Candice and she's doing her job," Bella replied and then looked over to Candi, tilting her head a little and shrugging. "Although that low cut top… her grandmother does not approve."

"She's hot, though," Jeremy smirked, looking over his shoulder.

"Knock yourself out. Break her neck while you're at it," Kol growled as he noticed the way the human girl was looking their way.

Bella nudged Kol to get his attention back on her and pointed at the menu. "Let's see what kind of food they have. No doubt it's delicious, whatever we may choose. Oh, garlic bread!"

Kol kept his eyes narrowed on the bar. "$50 says she spits in Bella's food," he bet Jeremy as he stretched an arm across the back of Bella's seat.

"Nah man," Jeremy shook his head. "No way she'll do that. Like Bella said, she's being friendly."

"She is going to try to slip her number to one of us before we leave. I'm sure of it."

"Good," Jeremy grinned. "I could use the exercise."

"Oh gross," Bella rolled her eyes at Jeremy. "You're one of those people, huh?"

"He spent too much time with Damon Salvatore. Excuse him."

"I'm a guy, I have needs. Surely you have those needs too, Bella. I know Kol has them."

Kol sighed and looked away, even though he started to play with Bella's hair that fell near his hand. "Leave me out of this."

"See?" Jeremy laughed before smiling at the waitress who was returning with their drinks. "Thanks!"

"Have you made a decision about your food? I can recommend the brisket or the gumbo," Candi smiled as she set down the drinks. "We get our meat and fish from the local market and it's very fresh and delicious. Or perhaps you're interested in the oysters?"

Kol looked back at Jeremy with a significant expression of exasperation. "I'll have grilled cheese," he smiled up at the waitress.

"Grilled… cheese," Candi said slowly before jotting it down with a frown on her face.

"With French fries."

"On top of the fries or separate?"

"Separate. Oh, and add gravy on them."

"Okidoki, what about you, sir?" Candi asked Jeremy.

"Yeah, the brisket sounds amazing. With fries."

Candi was about to walk away before she remembered that there was a third person at the table. "Ma'am?"

"Garlic bread for the three of us please, and I'd like to have the shrimp salad and roasted potatoes as a side," Bella replied as she handed her menu back to the girl.

"Very well, I'll be with you shortly then," Candi smiled and walked towards the kitchen.

"So, dude, tell me about the rules," Jeremy said to Kol, in an attempt to force the vampire to use his brain and snap out of whatever he was feeling. And Kol did, but not looking away from the kitchen and bar area, keeping his ears wide open while he was telling Jeremy everything Bella had told him.

When the food came, Kol immediately handed the salad back to Candi. It smelled as if old shrimp had been used and the whole dish smelled just awful underneath all of the vinaigrette. A normal person wouldn't be able to detect this, but he did. "And now with the right ingredients, please."

"Excuse me?" Candi stammered.

"You heard me," he said angrily, struggling to remain civil. "Don't make me tell you again."

"Oh, I bet the food authority won't like it that you tried to serve one of their workers bad food," Jeremy cooed to Candi, a big smile on his face. "She has the authority to close your restaurant, you know."

"Shit! Crap!" Candi nearly flew to the kitchen.

"Score, free food," Jeremy grinned as he leaned back in his chair. "Dude, seriously, chill out."

Bella took a piece of garlic bread and looked at Kol. "Smelled that bad, huh?"

"I never had a problem here before, never. And now I'm bringing you here and there's trouble," Kol said angrily as he stabbed one of his fries with a fork. "I want to suck her dry or break her neck."

"Hey, we're not going to do that, bro," Jeremy said sternly. "We're going to enjoy our meal and then we're going to head out."

"Breathe," Bella whispered in his ear, startling him for a moment because Kol hadn't been aware that she had moved. "They're not out to get me, it wasn't intentional." She ran a hand through his hair as she sat back down, looking at him with so much admiration in her eyes that made his heart ache, long for her. "There's a powerful spirit in that kitchen who likes to swap things around for shits and giggles, I doubt the cook notices. Doesn't like it we're here, but I told him that we're not here for him after you sent the poor girl back with the food."

"He could have made you sick!"

"Breathe," Bella said again as she picked a fry from Kol's plate, awaiting her new salad. "We're here to eat, not to fight with ghosts and if the garlic bread is any indication, I can't wait to taste my own food," she smiled at him.

The rest of the meal went quietly, Kol had calmed down and they were now standing in front of the Fleur-de-Lis Sanatorium. Bella insisted that he and Jeremy participated in her little protection ritual, forming a circle, holding hands and to Kol, it sounded ridiculous, but Bella was adamant. It was more elaborate than when she entered the cemetery the day before. "I want you to visualize a ball of bright light over your heads. A ball filled with love and peace. Allow it to enter your body and keep it there for the duration of our little adventure. It may not be for protection, but it'll make me feel better."

"Anything you need, Bella," Jeremy replied with a nod. "This is your territory now. We're following your lead."

Bella grabbed her little flashlight and nodded. "Well then, shall we start?"

Five minutes later, they were standing in the hallway, both cameras rolling. Jeremy was also armed with the Ovilus and Bella with her voice recorder. Kol was grateful he was able to see in the dark; it made it so much easier to keep track of Bella from where he was. "Alright, so," Bella spoke to Jeremy's camera. "I'm at a former sanatorium in New Orleans with my new guys Jeremy and Kol," she smiled. "Yep, I struck out and got me two boys. Two! I don't know what's more exciting, the fact that we're in a huge building for the first time ever or that the quality of the videos have just gone up." She then tilted her head as she looked at Jeremy. "Who knows Jeremy might lose his shirt one day and gosh, imagine the views!"

"Bella," Jeremy shook his head.

"This is a huge building, two stories up and likely a basement so… let's start small and stay at the ground floor," Bella said as she briefly turned on her flashlight to have a good look around. "It's dark in here. I don't necessarily need to use the darkness to communicate with the dead, but it does give you that creepy vibe, doesn't it?" She sighed dramatically. "Anything for my viewers," she switched off her flashlight and headed towards the hallway on the left. "Hey guys, we're Bella, Jeremy and Kol. We're not here to harm you in anyway, just curious to your stories, feel free to come to me if you want to be heard."

It was eerily quiet for a building like this. Bella didn't sense anyone around them and just kept walking, occasionally turning on her flashlight to see where she was going. "I'm new to New Orleans," she spoke nicely. "I think the city is amazing, everywhere you look it seems like there's a party going on and the smells of food, oh gosh, that's just.. So tempting! I could stuff my face all day if I wanted to. What's your favourite part of New Orleans so far, Jer?"

"Oh, anywhere you can dance!"

Bella let out a snort as she turned into a large room. "Oh, hello! Don't be afraid, we're just here to keep you a little company for a while," she greeted the room before turning on her flashlight to see if it was safe to sit down on the floor. "My name is Bella," she said as she sat down cross legged on the floor and looked at Kol and Jeremy. "They're a little shy, could you stay out in the hallway for a bit, guys?"

^stay^

"Or not," Bella shrugged as she focused on the people around her. There were quite a few of them in this room, what looked to be a ward, and they were talking at the same time. Some weren't making any sense and others were quite happy to talk to her. She let out a whine of frustration and rocked back and forth a little. "Taking turns is hard for them," she eventually said. "These people weren't quite right in the head, some were better than others, but you can just tell, you know… God, there are so many people here… why did I agree to this? It'll only get worse once this place becomes aware, won't it?"

"It was a mental hospital for some time," Kol reminded her as he panned his camera around the room. "It also was a quarantine for those infected with the flu."

"Not this room," Bella laughed, shaking her head. "No sir."

"Of course not. I have no clue of which room. I wasn't around for that," he teased.

"Anna. She uh… oh, her parents took care of her for awhile but when they died, the remaining family moved her here because they didn't want her - thought of her as a burden."

^sad^

"She couldn't speak, she wasn't mentally ill or anything, just mute."

Kol looked over at Jeremy with the new device. "That thing is disturbing. I can't understand how we can guarantee it's putting out the accurate words or if they are random."

"Bella has her recorder going too," Jeremy pointed out. "We can verify later, but I think it's pretty accurate so far."

"I like that other one the other shows have. With the radio frequencies, even if it would hurt my ears."

"Well I don't," Bella scowled, rubbing her arms in agitation. "Too much noise."

"I'd still like to get one. Then we can send Jeremy off with it to the most haunted room wherever we go by himself. Sounds like a party!" Kol grinned.

"Shirtless, the ladies will love that," Bella replied. "Anna definitely would."

Kol merely growled at the suggestion, displeased by her considering something so ridiculous but said nothing else. "You two okay here? I think I want to walk around for some extra film."

^unhappy^

"I can imagine so," Kol murmured, inspecting his camera, recalling his own time as a 'ghost'.

"Derek wants Jeremy to leave," Bella said as she kept scratching her arms. "Derek thinks he's too close to me."

The boy scowled. "Huh? That doesn't make sense."

"I think I like this Derek," the vampire agreed.

"Or Derek is close to me?" Bella looked over her shoulder to see the LCD light illuminate Jeremy's face. "I don't like it here, can we go to another room?"

"Sure," Jeremy readily agreed, looking around carefully to see if he could pick up anything himself but whoever was present, didn't want to be seen. "You're running the show."

"There's like twenty people here, all talking at once, shouting," Bella got to her feet and dusted herself off.

"Tell them to shut up. You're one girl," Kol replied. "If they keep giving you a problem, I'm sure we can find a shaman to come and cleanse the building. Doubt they would be happy with that."

"Actually, some want to leave and I told them that they could. They don't have to stick around, but they… they don't understand. Much."

Kol looked thoughtful. "What is it they do on that one show? Salt and burn the bones? You think that would work here?"

"That's fictional and so not how it's going," Jeremy rolled his eyes as he allowed Bella to pass by him back on her way to the hallway. "Besides, do you think these people have graves? Mass grave, I'm thinking."

"We can go to the county records for anyone that has died here, then follow the trail to the cemetery. Easy 'nough."

"Unless their deaths weren't recorded and there's a mass grave in the backyard or they were burnt," Jeremy pointed out.

Kol groaned out, following his friends. "Why must everything have _rules_. We can just burn everyone and they all move on!"

Just at that point, a large beam fell from the ceiling right in front of Kol.

Kol stopped short, blinking as he stared at the obstacle. "Funny. Real funny," he muttered, glaring up to where it came from.

"What was that?" Bella could feel her heart pound in her chest.

"One of your ghostly friends apparently didn't like something I said."

^vampire^

That caused all three to stop and stare at one another. "Did a vampire kill you?" Jeremy asked, raising an eyebrow curiously at Kol, who shrugged with confusion clear on his face.

^dead^

"I don't know. I didn't do anything," Kol objected, glaring at Jeremy. "Recently at least…"

^fine^

^hit^

Bella wandered off a little while Jeremy and Kol had a discussion with the Ovilus, there was someone waiting for her at the nurses station.

"I don't bloody understand what you are trying to say with these words!" Kol expressed, frustration.

"You're a vampire, you're already dead and you're fine when you get hit with that beam, keep up, Kol," Jeremy snorted.

"I would not be fine. I would have a massive headache and want to hunt down whoever decided to fuck with us like that. You could have easily been a few steps closer to me and been hit as well! Bloody hell! If Bella had been next to me?!"

"Stop provoking, man," Jeremy chided him. "Relax."

"I'm not provoking. They are provoking me. Attempting to drop beams on me? Uncalled for! I did nothing wrong here!" he argued, glaring around the room at whatever ghosts that he was unable to see. "I wasn't this bad when I was dead."

"They're feeding of our energy, you and I are batteries to them. I fear this is the least they could do," Jeremy said, panning his camera finally around. "The fuck, Bella! Come back here!"

Kol turned to look around for her, his own panic and worry clear on his face. "Where'd she go?" He listened carefully and lifted his face to breathe in the air before starting in the direction down a nearby hallway. "This way. Her scent goes down here. If any of them messes with her, I have no problem following through on that promise to wipe this place clean and they will be forced to move on or out."

Bella was sitting on top of a desk at the nurses station, waving her flashlight around so Kol and Jeremy could see her. A nurse who had worked at the Sanatorium during and prior to the influenza epidemic wanted to tell stories about the people who she worked with, and most importantly on how she died.

She felt slightly confused when she thought seeing flashes of Klaus Mikaelson run down the hallway because that was just stupid; Klaus wasn't here, but Clara kept talking, keeping Bella grounded and not wandering off any further. "Hi guys! Done talking to ghosts?"

Kol set his camera down and went straight to her to look her over for any damage while they had been separated. "Don't wander like that again. Please? We had a promise about being able to get you out if something tried to overtake you. You just _left_ us," he rambled as he held her face.

"I'm fine," Bella smiled at him, caressing his arm. "Seriously, I'm fine. Clara made sure I made it here safely without any trouble. She's a nurse and she actually encountered a vampire, or so she says. Imagine that, actual vampires."

"Darling, you are sort of living with a vampire," he pointed out.

"I know I am, doofus," she chuckled as she gestured at the cameras. "But you're interrupting Clara and I. She was talking about her friends Rebecca and Genevieve and this other one called Celeste."

He looked around, and nodded with a slight sheepish smile. "My apologies Miss Clara- wait. Celeste?"


	8. Chapter 7

"First of, she loves it that you have actual manners," Bella replied, ruffling Kol's hair with her hand. "And yes, she did say Celeste. It's a common name, really, for New Orleans." She was distracted by Klaus flashing by again, seemingly chasing after some blonde girl. "Uh… Rebecca and Genevieve were always together, scheming."

"My brother was involved with a witch named Celeste, but it couldn't be the same. While she was from New Orleans, she was much older than this hospital and Nik killed her. At least that's the way my sister told me."

"So much creative editing coming up," Jeremy muttered.

Kol shrugged. "So we just cut this entire area out. Besides this Clara and her friends started it by calling me out. Just how does this girl know of vampires?"

"Like I said, Rebecca and Genevieve were always scheming together. Celeste knew this, and allowed it to happen, knowing that by having Genevieve do a spell - oh, a witch! - it would draw a great evil to New Orleans to banish an even greater evil," Bella said after listening intently.

The vampire still appeared confused, but it was more concern by that point. "I'm starting to get a bad feeling of where this is leading. Does she know who they were talking about? Who was a vampire? She said she knew some, yes?"

"Clara says you need to be patient, Kol Mikaelson," Bella said coldly, her voice being not her own for just a fraction.

His mouth snapped closed before he could say another word. "Whoever you are, I kindly ask that you not possess my friend," he growled, all too familiar with Klaus' habit for body jumping.

"It's fine, Clara's good," Bella shook her body a little. "But yeah, weird feeling."

"No offense, love, but right now I don't trust any ghost that can't get to the point or does something without invitation."

"You have to understand, she wants to tell her story the way she wants it to be told, there's no rushing because she feels the need to tell it as it is. No, at first, she didn't know what was going on or who was being summoned, but Rebecca seemed to be remorseful and… oh no," Bella sighed. "She infected Genevieve with the flu."

"This Rebecca character? Was she a witch too?" Jeremy asked.

"No, she wasn't, otherwise she could have summoned the great evil herself. But Clara caught on to the scheming and saw Rebecca infect Genevieve, Rebecca saw her, and infected Clara too. They were locked in a room with an orderly in front of the door, left to die."

"I still fail to see where this involves vampires," Kol sighed, trying to keep his temper under control.

"When Clara died, the person possessing her jumped bodies. She said Celeste was the one possessing her and when Celeste left, it gave Clara clarity. Does that make sense?" Bella scratched her head. "That doesn't make sense, does it?"

Kol frowned as he stepped away, rubbing at his jaw. "More than you can imagine, Darling. You remember how I told you that my mother plucked me from the Other Side and dumped me in Kaleb? It's similar to that, though had my older brother not cursed me in that body, I would have been able to jump into another, had I had one prepared. Instead, I died again."

Bella saw Klaus woosh by again and rubbed her eyes. "Clara seems to agree," she replied.

"Yeah and then there was the time where Klaus possessed Alaric or Tyler," Jeremy pointed out. "A vampire put into someone else's body by a witch."

"What's the matter? You seem confused about something," Kol murmured as he moved closer to her.

"Yeah, I am, one thing at a time. Clara first… this other thing… in a bit…"

He nodded, but kept a concerned eye on her as something felt off. "Okay…"

"So, as a spirit, Clara regained clarity. Apparently Genevieve summoned a guy named Michael to New Orleans to get rid of his son and Rebecca wanted it to stop, fearing for her own life, and that didn't happen so Rebecca infected Genevieve."

Kol and Jeremy looked at one another, eyes wide with surprise and fear. "Oh bloody hell. I know who this Rebecca is now. I swear, Bella, I didn't know when I chose this place. It wasn't the type of area they concerned themselves with as far as I was aware."

"Your sister?"

The vampire nodded slowly, scratching his head. "Why would she be here? Why in the world would she summon our father? He wanted us all _dead_."

"Clara doesn't know, and says you should ask your sister or - Klaus? Wait, what? He's the big evil? Seriously?"

"I don't get on well with her to trust her answers. Klaus has his moments," he replied, distracted by what he was learning.

"Coincidentally, a couple of days later, there was a big fire in a theatre close by and Clara didn't see Rebekah after that."

"They must have ran from Mikael and used a fire to cover them. I don't know. I suppose we have many questions for Klaus to answer when we return home," he mumbled.

"Clara doesn't blame you in anyway for what happened, nor your sister, for that matter. She just wanted her story to be told so she can move on," Bella said with a smile on her face. "She does hope that Celeste met a miserable end because Celeste screwed up her life."

"Quite the story," Jeremy nodded. "Thank you, nurse Clara. I hope you can rest easy now."

"She's gone," Bella said before hopping off the counter and positioning herself in the middle of the hallway. "Now I'm going to see if I'm crazy or not. If I land flat on my ass, he's here. If not, then I'm ready to live in this crazy hospital."

Kol looked at her and around. "What are you talking about? You will not stay here."

Bella let out a cry of frustration. "I don't know what's going on. I know I can't see things. I just know. But I can't help but seeing the outlines of Klaus chasing some blond woman on high speed through this corridor, again and again, like he's here."

"Um," Kol scratched his head. "Same scene?"

Jeremy looked more intrigued. "Maybe your abilities are growing if you are starting to see stuff. I can't see anything happening."

"If I'm starting to see stuff I'm going to lose my mind, because Astaria sees stuff all the time and it's not pretty. It's ugly and she sees deaths and shit like that," she said agitated and braced for impact.

"No you won't because I'll be here with you," Kol assured her, running his hands over her arms before pulling her into a hug. "You will just need to focus more on closing and staying closed. Otherwise you may never want to leave my place - which I would not object to, of course."

"You know how hard it is for me to leave your place already?" She said with a slight chuckle before the Klaus woosh came by again, this time penetrating every fibre of her being. "Ohhh… not good, not good."

Thinking on what he knew about hauntings, he tried to be more calming for her. "If it's the exact same image, then it's likely residual. We know that the energy from a traumatic event can remain. It could have been something to do with him, or whoever he's chasing. Likely the woman wronged him in some way."

"Oh yeah," Bella nodded. "It's definitely residual, I get it with voices all the time, but I can still feel the emotions caught in that moment. And it's really really bad."

"How so?"

"The blonde woman is scared shitless, and ill. Delirious, maybe, and then she has Klaus chase her and oh, he's so angry, he wants to rip her throat out and string her up, do nasty things."

"Sounds like his type of party," Kol smiled. "Want to look around more or head over to his place for some answers?"

"I think this blonde woman was a vampire, too," Bella said as she looked up to Kol. "She's running fast for someone who's not thinking clearly."

"I don't know, but I do believe that perhaps you've met your limit here for tonight. Let's get you out of here for some normalcy. How does that sound?"

"I'm getting sick."

Kol nodded and took that as his cue, lifting her slightly in his arms and flashed her to the outside to wait for Jeremy. Gently setting her down, he tilted her chin up so he could see her properly. "There. All better. Get your bearings."

Bella held onto him as she took a few deep breaths, trying to shake the residual image that had passed through her and the rush of Kol rushing her out of the building. "Wow… trippy."

A dark smile grew on his lips, tilting his head to the side. "Oh I could make you feel so many things if you wish."

"Challenge accepted," she said in a wave of bravery before taking another deep breath. "I'm pooped."

Jeremy stumbled out of the door with the equipment, looking spooked. "Dude, I had to avoid another falling beam, are you sure this building is up to code?"

"It's abandoned. Of course it isn't," Kol rolled his eyes. "Maybe you said something this time that pissed them off."

"Yeah, or maybe they wanted to keep you there," Bella said as she reached for her backpack and got out a sage stick and a lighter. "Now, stand still, I am going to make sure nothing follows us home."

"There is only one thing that I would like following me home every night," Kol smiled over at her.

"Uhuh," Bella smiled at him as she lit the stick and had it burn for a little while before blowing out the flames. "We're leaving all the dark and negative energy here, you are not welcome where we are going," she said as she waved the stick around Kol and Jeremy, and then herself. "Only love and peace are allowed in our lives."

"What's your excuse for me then, Love?" Kol waggled his eyebrows.

"Brain damage," Bella retorted playfully as she waved the stick in his face for good measure.

He pouted, blowing the smoke away, quickly bending forward to drop a kiss on her nose before she could turn away. "That's not fair."

"Just kidding," she smiled at him as she doused the stick on the ground. "My excuse for you is that we all need a little darkness in our lives," she giggled; the same giggle he had heard earlier that day and had wished to hear again. Oh, he was lucky.

Jeremy stood aside, entertained by his friends. "Shall I get you two a room? Or perhaps you can find me a dentist as you two are being obnoxiously sweet. Hey! If you two start shacking up together, could I take the guest room?"

"Shut up, Wesley," Kol rolled his eyes at him before starting to pack up the equipment.

"You - know Star Trek?" he questioned, raising a brow. "Shall I get you a nerd membership card?"

"Gilbert, you know very well that I'm the hippest member of my family. Good thing about us vampires is that we don't require a lot of sleep and well, marathons are on TV at any given time," Kol said with a shrug as he made sure everything was off before putting it in the bag.

"You're still a Trekkie. Do you have the costumes too?"

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out," he got back up and smirked. "Bella, do you feel well enough to get Nik's story? I can't wait to hear what the hell he was doing at the sanatorium or what happened earlier."

Bella looked over at him, biting her lip. "Well, um… does it have to be tonight?"

"Of course not, we can go straight home and then ambush them during breakfast," he said as he put an arm around her. "And Jeremy and I will go do our best to cut something together that you can use for your channel and share with your viewers. Before the beam dropped, it should be good enough."

"We need to record a new intro," she sighed as they started to walk back.

"Klaus' place would be nice for that, I think," Jeremy shared. "I mean it's visually appealing and it's someplace you have already been exposed to."

"It is, but also a little bit too close to home," Kol replied.

"Yeah, but if we limit the angles, avoiding identifying features that it's your family's place, it would provide a really nice backdrop for a short introduction."

"Or film in the basement where the kitchen is, kinda creepy place to be, and enough shadows to have Kol in frame but not entirely in focus," Bella tiredly rubbed her eyes.

"We can borrow the place at night. Perhaps Myriam would have one of her friends move something for us on camera that we can use," Kol said thoughtfully. "We will tell them in the morning after our interrogation."

Bella threw her hands up in defeat as she focused on walking. "I just want-" she looked around and sighed. "Whoops."

"What do you want?" Kol questioned. "Anything."

Shaking her head, she managed to close herself off, she had forgotten to do that after feeling so bad after her encounter with the Klaus image. "Uh, I want… cuddles."

Kol smirked and leaned his forehead against hers. "I can certainly do cuddles. Let's get back and I'll make us some tea and then we can settle in for the night."

"So… I can't stay in the guest room?" Jeremy questioned lightly.

"No. I have my stash in there," Kol replied. "You still have some time yet at the hotel. Make the most of it! See the town."

"I'm all hyped up, man, maybe I'll go to the bayou to annoy some wolves," Jeremy smirked and waved at them. "See ya later!"

"Oh! If you do go, be sure to give Myriam a ring. I'm sure she'd love to join you. Just keep in mind she gets incredibly horny after her parties. I'm sure Klaus wouldn't mind the results."

"The more the merrier!" Jeremy laughed before he trotted off.

They were quiet as they walked back to the apartment and it wasn't until Bella was well settled on the couch with a blanket around her that she spoke up again. "Is it even possible? For abilities to change?"

"Anything is possible. I mean, it's not entirely unheard of. Keep in mind that after my mother created us, we thought we had our limitations in those early years. It wasn't for nearly a hundred years before my brothers found out we could control humans, the compulsion. You may have always been able to do this, but you never allowed yourself to. Perhaps you weren't ready to accept that part yet," Kol theorized.

"Or my mind hasn't gotten the rest it has gotten over the last few days in ages and it was all cluttered?"

"That too," he smiled, pulling her close into his side. "Or it could be because you were with a vampire and a hunter and we helped boost your original limitations. It is worth exploring, certainly, when you are ready."

She hummed her agreement as she settled against his side and closed her eyes. "Only with you, because you make sure I'm safe."

"Give the hunter some time," Kol murmured, pleased of how she was feeling with him. "I'm confident you will come to trust him. As annoying as he can be, he'll step up."

"Oh, god, those ladies were just lusting over him in there. I don't see the appeal, but wow. They just wouldn't shut up. Hell, even some of the men were like… that shirt needs to come off."

"Now, no need to say this around him. I am not sure if I even want to hear it," he smirked, gently pinching her side to stop.

Bella giggled as she pinched him back. "Don't make me scream, I'm very ticklish."

His hand stilled, mischievousness creeping into his smile. "Is that so?" he whispered in her ear.

"Oh, don't," she laughed. "Please don't." Bella tried to move away in anticipation for whatever he was going to do next.

"Hmm, no. You're not going anywhere," he said as he locked his arms around her waist to keep her close. Positioning her in front of him, he lowered his head down to her shoulder. "I wouldn't _now_ but when you least suspect...you'll be mine."

She let out a small gasp. "I can't help but feeling that I already am."

He turned and pressed his lips to her neck, smiling. "All in due time, Beautiful. However, tonight, I did promise you tea and cuddles, and that is what I will give. Unless of course, you change your mind."

"Tea and cuddles," she slowly nodded as she felt as if she was melting into him. "Don't think I can handle anything else right now. No more excitement."

"Alright. We can be the old boring couple that is the Debbie Downers at every party," he agreed.

"I kicked your ass at the video game last night, so we're not the old boring couple. Just the pooped couple."

"I still stand by what I said. You cheated."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"How did I cheat? We were on the same game console, no way of entering cheats…"

"Magic, darling. You completely bewitched me to lose to you," Kol replied smugly, his arms tightening a fraction as he spoke. "You had me under your spell from the moment your little friends messed with me."

"Those kids… I feel sorry for them, no matter how happy they are."

"You could move them on if you want, but if they are fine and not harming any of the living, is it necessary?"

"No, it's not necessary. Like I said, they're happy and playful. Good souls," she smiled at him. "But I have been to places where this was not the case and I called a priest to help them move on and banish the evil from the place. It's just always sad to encounter ghost kids, no matter if they're happy or not," she then shrugged. "Then of course, you've got the demons who like to pretend they're children to fuck with your mind and it usually takes me awhile to see through their pretense. Bastards."

Kol poked her lightly, though his tone was more serious. "And those are the beings you have Jeremy and I for. I've seen your videos Bella and before you came to New Orleans, it was clear to me that you were being pulled into something dark over time. It wasn't you and I would try to keep you from that with my being."

"I spent two weeks in a convent because of it. Didn't like it."

"Nuns are so prudish. I have to wonder if Elijah may be a secret monk. I should get him a vacation at the Vatican for Christmas," he considered, looking towards the wall facing his brothers' compound.

Bella let out a snort. "Or he's gay."

"Our favorite bartender would be so disappointed," Kol pouted. "You should still meet him before we leave. No matter how boring and self righteous he is."

"Leave?" Bella blinked at him.

"Yeah. For our next investigation. We aren't going to be doing everything in New Orleans, right?" he asked, genuinely unsure of what he said that spooked her.

"No, of course not, but I'm not thinking about leaving just yet. We have more of the Sanatorium to explore for one."

Kol pulled her back over so he could wrap his arms around her. "Next week, next month. Whenever you wish. I'm content to stay here just like this."

"Me too," Bella yawned and shifted a little so she was more comfortable. "Thank you for being you," she added sleepily. "For who I need."

"Go to sleep, Darling," he whispered, pulling the blanket around her more.

When he felt her shift into a deep sleep, he quickly moved her over the bedroom, tucking her into the bed. Narrowing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath as he decided to take a risk. He pulled off his shirt so he could sleep comfortably and climbed in beside her, pulling her to his side again. He eventually drifted off, his fingers lightly tracing her arm, thinking about the events of the day with a smile.

~o.O.o~

Bella woke up the next morning, she felt as if she was very comfortable in a cocoon and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face the world yet. Shifting a little, she realized her protective cocoon was very real and when she opened her eyes, she found Kol was in bed with her. Holding her, and she couldn't help but smile. "Morning," she said softly.

He shifted slightly and his hold tightened as he released a low moan. Opening his eyes, he looked around for a moment before blinking his still sleep filled eyes at her. "Hm, yes. It certainly is a good morning," he replied, pulling her impossibly close and tucking his face in her neck. "Let's stay here for a bit longer."

Had it been anyone other than Kol, she would have freaked out, but she was merely extremely comfortable. "No objections here," she replied with a slight chuckle. "I can't move anyway."

His lips pulled into a smile against her skin. "I do believe that was my evil intentions. Keep you in my bed for eternity sounds like a rather intriguing prospect. Our friend will just have to go on without us."

"As great as that sounds, I really need to pee," Bella gently tapped his arms. "You'll have to release me."

Kol pouted but opened his arms to let her go. "Aye, those magic words. Perhaps you are a sorceress instead of a mere medium. I wouldn't object."

"Maybe," Bella grinned as she hopped out of bed and quickly ran to the bathroom before returning, finding him now on his back and his arms tucked behind his head. He looked absolutely beautiful. He could be shirtless all day and she'd never get bored of it. Crawling back in bed, she put her arms around him and shuffled closer to him, wrapping one of her legs around his. "Now _you_ aren't going anywhere," she smirked up at him.

A grin came to his face, looking down at her as he wrapped his arm around her back. "This is certainly a wrestling match I'd be eager to play, but something tells me you are not quite ready for that. In due time, I did say."

She hummed an answer as she put her head down on his chest. For now she was happy to stay in their little bubble like this, comfortable and silence. Bella was slowly drifting back off to sleep only to be awoken by a voice bellowing from outside.

"Kol! You get yourself in here! I just know it was you last night!"

Bella let out a whine. "No…"

"I swear I did nothing to incite his wrath this time, so whatever it is, it might be best we make our way over to find out what has upset him," he sighed. "If Myriam isn't holding him back, then something truly happened."

"Never let Klaus wait for anything?" She looked up to him. "He truly is that scary?"

Reluctantly letting her go and sitting up, he ran his hand through his hair. "He can be, yes. When he holds the thing capable of putting you away for however long he sees fit, you often tread carefully when he is upset over something. Last thing I'm interested in is being daggered for more decades on end."

"I'm sure Myriam won't let that happen," she said, sitting up herself.

"KOL!"

"Yeah, why use the phone when you can yell across the street?" Bella scowled as she threw a pillow towards the open French doors in an attempt to close at least one, but failed. "Damnit."

"It was a valiant attempt. Come now, pretty girl. Time to get up," Kol smiled as he leaned across the bed to kiss her forehead. "We shall eat my brother out of house and home for disturbing us."

"Ohh, and interrogate him," she said with a slight giggle. "He owes me big time."

He winked and moved to get clean clothes out of his closet. "And you shall have them. I do believe it will be an entertaining morning. I'll leave you to get ready."

"Uh…" Bella said, a little unsure. "Can I wash my trousers and shirts? I only have a dress left to wear and really need to call my dad to send some of my stuff over… Traveling light has its downsides sometimes," she blushed lightly. "Especially when you believe you're only meeting your new friends at night and that all changed."

"I was wondering what clothes you might have. Wear your dress, and we shall have the rest of your things cleaned. We can also go do some touristy things for you, get you some new outfits."

"I do have my own -"

"I told you, you can close that website now," he smiled at her. "Or save that money for a rainy day. Please, Bella, I like doing this for you and it doesn't break the bank in any way. I promise," He kissed the top of her head. "Leave your dirty clothes in the hamper, I'll have someone come pick it up and clean it for you," he then left the bedroom to go to the guestroom to change quickly and have a snack.

He could hear Bella move around a little and stumbling over her own feet. If it hadn't been for the soft thud - the bed - he would have rushed over to see what the hell she was doing. He couldn't wait to see her in a dress, no doubt she'd look absolutely enchanting. If only she'd get it through her gorgeous little head that just because she's a traveler and moving all the time, doesn't mean she can't live a normal life and have things, be treated like the queen that she was.

She was brushing her hair as she got out of the bedroom, wearing her somewhat faded black, knee-length dress. She met his eyes as she could feel him stare at her. "Sometimes when you try to get permission to enter somewhere, or talk to someone official, it's better to look like a pretty girl instead of a dirt monkey," she explained. "I uh… I hope you don't mind me wearing one of your shirts as a jacket thingy, I haven't gained enough weight to properly fill out the dress again and it's just… uh… not good."

He was silent as his gaze remained on her, taking every ounce of strength in him not to grab her and run back to the bed to properly claim her. "You have no idea what you ignited by doing this," he said, looking away. "It's fine. Come now, let's get this thing with my brother over with."

The smell of burnt flesh and burnt paper greeted them when they stepped into the courtyard and Bella tried not to throw up. "Ew."

Klaus appeared at the balcony, anger written all over his face but temporarily forgotten as he saw Bella. Looking at his brother and then back at Bella, he scratched his head with his burnt hand. "Well, this is an interesting development, I believed you were taking things slow?"

Confused, she looked up at him, scrunching her nose at the damage to his skin. "What are you talking about? All we did was cuddle, right?" she asked, looking to Kol whom had his eyes locked on his brother.

Elijah and Myriam appeared too, both also seeing the sight below them. "Well…" Elijah eyed the girl curiously before going down stairs and inspected the girl closely, unsure about what he was seeing. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said after composing himself. "My name is Elijah Mikaelson."

Bella took a step closer to Kol. "Nice to meet you, I'm Bella."

"Do you have a last name, Bella?" He curiously cocked his head as he observed her. "I can see why my family's been so intrigued with you."

Kol merely shook his head once to call them off, his hand snaking around her waist to keep her close. "You bellowed for me Niklaus, disturbing our rest. What are you so mad about? Bella can assure you I was with her the entire evening and night."

"No doubt," Klaus sneered. "At this point I'm not surprised the girl would cover for you, but I just know it was you." He held up his burnt arms and hands. "This won't heal. This has you written all over it!"

He cocked his head and peered up at the damage. "Huh. Perhaps you need a spot of blood? What happened?"

"He went to read and the book exploded in his hands," Myriam scowled. "Are you seriously claiming you had nothing to do with this because there have been no new scents besides Bella and your hunter friend in the compound for ages."

"Ah! I was wondering when that book would turn up," Kol replied after giving it some thought. "Don't worry, that spell book was a dummy, I have it somewhere safe."

"Kol!" Elijah scolded. "What in the world did you do _now_?"

"I didn't do anything _now_ , brother. I'm a vampire, I can't do magic now, can I? You can't punish me for a prank I wanted to pull when I was a witch, because I am no longer inhabiting Kaleb."

Sighing, Elijah shook his head, turning his attention back to Bella and her choice of wardrobe. He knew now that whatever was going on was truly between his younger brothers, and had enough mind to stay out of it.

"But Nik, now that I've got your attention…" Kol smirked as he looked at Bella. "Bella and I came across something quite interesting last night during our little adventure."

"Pray tell me what now?" Nik muttered as he made his way down the stairs. "And would someone bring me some blood!"

"Oh that will heal, don't worry. It'll take a day or two though," Kol waved him off. "But back to the subject on hand. We went to visit the Sanatorium last night to see what we could get on camera. I must say, it was quite interesting, the information we learned. Have you ever been there?"

"Which one?" Klaus scowled as he pointed to the sofa's in the courtyard for them to sit down. He had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation.

"Fleur-de-Lis," Bella replied, curious to see if the vampire would confirm.

He froze for a fraction of a second on his way to the liquor table, swallowing his lie. "I don't recall going there when it was open. You might wish to speak to some of the city vampires. Perhaps they have been there over the years."

Myriam flashed down to join them, having not originally intended to do so right away. Crossing her arms, she glared at her mate. "How carefully worded. What about more recently?"

Bella looked around and noticed some paintings hanging underneath the walkway, which drew her attention, especially the blonde woman. "Hey, is this Rebekah?"

Elijah turned and nodded. "It is our sister. She's out of town at the moment, but I'm sure she will be eager to meet you when she returns."

"Clara's story makes a lot of sense now," Bella smiled widely as she rejoined Kol and sat down next to him. "And the blonde being chased by Klaus on a loop, over and over and over again."

Klaus fell into his chair, taking a large gulp of his scotch. "I thought you weren't capable of seeing things. Are you sure it wasn't some hallucination the beings in the building fed you?"

"What were you up to when I was gone?" Myriam demanded. "I remember overhearing Marcel bitching about you biting your sister, but I don't remember you ever doing that. Elijah, yes, but not Rebekah."

Klaus scowled.

"Does he do that a lot? Bite people? Scowling?"

"Nik's a hybrid. His bite can kill regular vampires, but only cause us to hallucinate until it burns out," Kol explained with a smile on his face. "And yes, that's his resting bitch face. Now, go on, tell them what we've learned."

"I don't know if it's in direct connection to what Clara told me, though. The wooshing felt quite recent. There was a lot of anger involved on his part and a lot of fear and slight craziness from Rebekah," Bella replied with a shrug, looking at Klaus, who had a murderous look on his face. "Did I say something wrong?"

Myriam shook her head, keeping her eyes on her man. "No. However, I do have a feeling of when this happened. I was out of town for a convention I wanted to visit. Both of you lied to me, saying that nothing happened while I was gone."

Elijah cleared his throat. "Allow me to explain," he started, a bit wary of Myriam.

She glared over at him and growled. "You've had some years to come out with the truth."

"It was nothing but a healthy fight between siblings, Myriam, nothing of importance," Elijah replied as he straightened his cufflinks.

"For Klaus to bite Rebekah. We all know he prefers daggering her, so spare me your sanctimonious crap and tell me what she could have done to warrant being poisoned!"

"Celeste and Genevieve had been resurrected, as you were well aware of," he continued, his voice in storytelling mode. "As it turned out, Celeste had a habit of jumping from body to body over the years and she worked with Rebekah and Genevieve at the Sanatorium during the influenza epidemic."

"Klaus, you did a shitty job killing that bitch," she muttered, staring at his brother.

"Holy crap, it is connected?" Bella blinked at Elijah. "Clara told me she was inhabited by Celeste."

"Klaus killed Celeste over a century ago. Or so we thought. She was bad news but this fucker didn't want to hear it as he was so in love with her. I told you she had bad mojo."

"Celeste and I are not part of this narrative, Myriam," Elijah chided her. "But yes, Bella, you are correct, Celeste was inhabiting the body of a young nurse named Clara."

"Celeste clearly came back with the intention of fucking with the family. How can you say that she has nothing to do with shit? Witches are nothing but trouble. You should have known she would have turned on us eventually. They always do."

"Niklaus, please tell your mate to stop interrupting me or so help me God."

Klaus raised an eyebrow at him, clearly wondering if he truly thought he had any control over her. "I won't say a word but you are more than welcome to try."

Myriam smirked before it grew into a devious smile.

"I don't like that look," Kol murmured into Bella's ear. "Are you sensing anything?"

"To make a long story short," Elijah eventually decided to say. "Back in 1919 Rebekah used Genevieve to perform a summoning spell to draw Mikael to New Orleans because she and Marcellus wanted to be together and Niklaus was standing in the way."

"She was responsible for that disaster?" the voodoo vampire deadpanned. Klaus used his foot to push his chair back, giving his girl ample space. "Where is that bitch?! I'll kill her myself!"

"When Mikael hadn't shown up yet, Rebekah asked Genevieve to annul the spell out of fear for Niklaus' retaliation but of course, witches."

Myriam turned to look at Klaus. "You're spitting into some syringes tonight. I want your venom."

"Whatever you require, love," Klaus smiled at her, glad to know that, for now, she was on his side.

"Rebekah killed Genevieve out of fear for the witch going to our brother to rat her out, and Nurse Clara was killed because she witnessed Rebekah."

Bella had her head on Kol's shoulder, bored after having heard this all already and his brother's voice didn't make it any more entertaining. "Do we have to hear this again?" she asked Kol.

"No, now we're hopefully getting to the part we don't know yet," Kol smirked, looking at his brother. "What happened oh… hm… seven years ago?"

"You are correct, brother," Elijah replied. "Seven years ago, Celeste revealed herself as being one of many, and after the Harvest, the old witches were resurrected. Genevieve, Bastiana, Papa Tunde… it was quite the mess."

Myriam was appalled at the brothers. "And I was out of town for this?! Papa Tunde was here again?! I would kill to get his blade!"

"We have his blade in our possession, love," Klaus gently pat her knee. "It was never buried with him. However, it's in a safe place for now."

"Genevieve and Celeste decided that the truth had to come out, Rebekah's killing over Mikael, her summoning him and thus driving us out of New Orleans for nearly a century, and of course, screwing with the mind of the all mighty Klaus Mikaelson is always fun. They took them to the Sanatorium where Genevieve showed Niklaus what Rebekah had done, and Celeste injected Rebekah with some of his venom and then they set them both loose inside that hospital, hoping that Niklaus would kill Rebekah for what she had done," Elijah continued. "I intervened."


	9. Chapter 8

Having heard enough, Myriam rolled her eyes and smiled with pleasure as an invisible force snapped Elijah's neck. "This should have been a family battle. I should have been there Niklaus."

Bella looked in shock at the vampire's body. "What!"

Kol shrugged. "He'll be okay. We've all had our necks broken plenty of times. What I still fail to understand is how Nik managed to keep this all from Myriam this long. How - intriguing."

"Yes, it makes one wonder how many more skeletons are buried that I don't know about," Myriam eyed her lover before shaking her head. "I'll deal with you later, Klaus Mikaelson," she said as she rose to her feet and held out her hand to Bella. "Come, we need to have some girl talk."

Kol stiffened as he looked up at her. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry," Myriam smiled mischievously. "I know she's learning all about vampires from you, perhaps a bit too slowly."

Bella objected. "It's been what? Three days since I learned about the existence of witches, vampires and werewolves and my head's still spinning, what do you mean, too slow?"

"Come," Myriam coaxed her. "We'll get some breakfast in the kitchen while we have our talk."

"Myriam, don't," Kol warned her, nearly begging.

Klaus smirked as Myriam continued pulling the girl with her. "I won't break her, I promise. Just filling her in on some things you've obviously neglected. She's not a little girl, Kol."

"Is it really necessary?" Bella asked as she stopped struggling because there wasn't any use for that; Myriam was far stronger than she was, of course. "Like, is it a life or death thing?"

The vampire pursed her lips as she considered it. "It can be for some," she admitted.

Bella let out a breath and hung her head as she continued to follow Myriam to the kitchen, dread making every step feel heavy. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"Wrong for you? I don't think so. I actually approve, and so does Klaus, but it all depends on how you see things," Myriam replied as she went to the fridge to start taking things out and setting them on the counter. "Have a seat. Nice shirt by the way."

Bella pulled a chair out and sat down. "I didn't have anything to wear but this dress and… I'm skinny. So I took Kol's shirt because the dress is slightly too big, still."

"You're gorgeous, and I'm sure Kol agrees. However, since you put his shirt on, have you noticed anything different with him?" the vampire asked, trying to sound innocent.

"He said it was all right," Bella said confused.

Myriam smiled as she started cracking eggs. "Of course he did. It's no secret he wants you. However, vampire behavior is quite primal. Our instincts are quite driven by our nature. You understand that, yes?"

She nodded. "Kol was acting a bit strange last night at the restaurant towards a waitress. I believe Jeremy even had to kick him underneath the table and Kol calmed down when I scooted closer and touched him."

"Did she try anything with him, or you?"

"She winked at him and Jeremy but that's what all waitresses do, I mean… friendly and polite."

"No, they don't. Though, they tend to be more drawn to vampires. Kol likely was on edge because of you being there and he… may feel a claim over you that he's been struggling to not act out on. He's liked your videos for some time, but his interest really skyrocketed after meeting you in person, so he's having to handle many emotions and control them, when he hadn't needed to in the past as I suspect he fears he might frighten you off," Myriam softly explained. "He wouldn't hurt you, I can assure you of that…"

Bella thought for a moment as something clicked. "But he might hurt others."

"If they pose a threat to you, as his potential claim, without a doubt. Klaus and I knew he was trying to pursue you at a human pace, which is quite difficult for our kind, mind you. And it seems, while he was trying to keep your needs in mind, you inadvertently jumped several steps ahead of where he was."

"It's just a shirt," Bella murmured as she tugged it.

"To you yes. To us, it's Kol's scent on you, marking you as his. Klaus and Elijah wouldn't dare go anywhere near you for awhile, even just to be friendly. A stranger? He would have a death wish."

"I don't mind being marked as his," she said as she looked at Myriam. "I really can't explain it but there's this pull, this tug, and it makes me gravitate towards him, more and more each day and it's quite confusing because I've never allowed myself to be this close to someone."

Myriam looked up at her from her breakfast preparation with a curious gaze. "The human ideology of soulmates doesn't work with vampires, so any other draw I would think would be some sort of supernatural influence."

"I hate the term soulmates or mates," Bella muttered. "It's so… ugh."

"So do we," she laughed. "We can have many lovers, but when we find someone we can see a future with - quite literally forever, we are extremely careful with that type of claim because, in our world, it's almost as significant as a marriage proposal. So you can understand why he may have been nervous or strange at the unexpected sight of you in something of his."

Bella shrugged. "I'm strange. I see strange things every day. If things are normal things may surprise me, I guess. But I really can't explain it. Like I said, I've never allowed myself to be this close to someone, with someone. And for this to happen, so quickly, it's… I don't know, something that needs to happen? I told him last night he's exactly what I need, but I have no idea where that came from."

There was still concern filling Myriam's eyes. "Then for your sake, I hope things work out with you two. I'm still wondering about this pull you said you feel, because trust you aren't the only one to feel something like that in this family. Klaus and Elijah feel an unnatural interest in you as well, though I assure it's not romantic like Kol's. And then there is Jeremy Gilbert - a vampire hunter of a very specific breed. He was attracted to you, but not in the sense that he wanted you dead."

"What's wrong with me?" Bella asked in a small voice.

"I don't think there is anything _wrong_ with you, but more a question of exactly _what_ you are. If you are willing to give some blood, I can try to see what I can find out. It's not guaranteed, mind you."

Bella nodded. "Kaleb is spying on the Ancestors for me, because he told me I'm weird too, according to them."

Myriam grew more anxious at hearing that, having never trusted those particular type of witches. "Later after breakfast, we can start." But, if the Ancestors were concerned or interested in Bella, then she definitely wasn't a regular human.

"So… should I fight this pull towards Kol now? I mean, all we did last night was cuddle, but it felt good, safe and…" Bella sighed happily.

"Does any of it feel wrong?" she asked.

"No, but then again, nothing around him feels wrong."

"I wouldn't fight it. For one thing, Kol doesn't seem upset by the change, and it took over fifty years with Klaus before he made any sort of claim on me like that. Only, mine hurt a helluva lot more."

"Hurt?" Bella blinked at her. "Why did it hurt?"

"He decided to use his venom, which with enough in me, would leave a permanent mark of his scent. Of course, he cured me right after with his blood, but it remains."

"Wait, you mean Kol actually wants to bite me?"

Myriam's eyes brightened in excitement. "No doubt, but not to feed as you might think. It's actually quite erotic, blood sharing. Possibly more intimate than sex for a vampire. I am sure that whenever the thought crosses his mind, he's sporting wood."

Bella scratched her head in confusion. "He seems to have a preference to my neck while cuddling."

"It's one of the most popular erotic zones on the body. Tell me, did you feel warm and fuzzy, cool shivers with his lips on you? Your body technically is craving for him to do that, considering how close you've gotten. If you want to go forward in that sense, he won't hurt you, and it's quite pleasurable to be fed on with the right vampire. Most don't care if it's just for sustenance, but he doesn't see you as food. Neither does the rest of the family."

Bella shuddered at the thought. She wasn't a big fan of blood, but she had to get used to it now, right? But Myriam was right, she had felt all of those things, and she felt safe in Kol's arms. Had they really moved that fast to already be at that point? It sounded like some sort of romance novel, come to think of everything she'd experienced with him so far, how they connected with each other and how they both liked to touch each other, be around each other and… crap. Yep, they were at that point already. "Kol and I will definitely need to have a talk…"

"Great! I finally have a girl for real girl talk about Mikaelson boys!" Myriam cheered from the stove. "Rebekah doesn't exactly fit in with those talks. Imagine having to listen about your brothers' sex lives. Hey! When you do finally sleep with him, you have to let me know how it went, because even though I'm all hot for Klaus, I can admit that Kol is mmm…"

"No!" Bella said shocked. "No! Absolutely not!"

"Party pooper," she pouted.

Myriam probably didn't realize how hard it had been for Bella to tell Kol about that one casual sex encounter she had had. She's been drunk off her ass for it, but that had been hard to admit. Bella then felt anxiety set in. She was drawn to a 1000-year-old vampire who had no doubt bedded many women over the years and there she was with a one time experience. Oh, great. Yeah, just great. Shaking the feeling off, she helped Myriam to carry breakfast up to the dining table, it was a simple breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon and store bought biscuits, but it was normal. It wasn't fancy, it was normal, and Bella loved it.

"What? No gravy?" Klaus remarked as he eyed the biscuits.

"Make it yourself," Myriam snapped, slapping him on the head. "We slave over this breakfast for you boys, and that's all you have to say? _Where's the gravy?_ It won't be in your bed tonight."

"A gravy bath does sound refreshing," Klaus smirked at his lover.

Bella set down the pot of tea and sat down next to Kol, quietly observing Klaus and Myriam. Klaus was a mystery. She had learned he was the biggest evil out there, but yet, here he was, as tame as a pussycat, wax in Myriam's hands. And then it hit her, Kol was portraying the same behavior, only a lot milder even before the shirt incident and she was surprised by that.

Similarly, Kol was watching Bella since the moment she returned, anxious over not knowing exactly all that his sister shared with her. Taking her hand, he brought it up to his lips and smiled, no words said.

"I made the tea," Bella grinned at Kol.

"I'm sure it will be lovely," he murmured, stretching his arm behind her as Elijah walked in with a sullen face and rubbing his neck. "Perhaps you should stop getting on your knees so much, 'Lijah."

Elijah scowled. "Between all the work I'm doing to keep the supernatural community and the human community in balance, and doing the extra research on The Five that Myriam requested, I stand on my feet quite a lot, Kol. Unfortunately in my case, business does go before pleasure otherwise I'd have been-"

"Wooing Camille. Or at least make an attempt to," Klaus snickered as he dropped a spoonful of scrambled eggs onto his plate.

Bella looked over at Klaus. "I've heard that name mentioned before. Who is she?"

"Ah, she's the psychologist pretending to be a bartender, darling," Kol replied as he poured them the tea. "The woman I want you to meet."

"I'm not going to meet with a psychologist," Bella was quick to reply. "I'm not crazy."

"No, you're not, and I'm not saying you are. Cami is just a good friend of the family and a valuable contact in town to have," he pointed out.

She let out a breath and nodded. "Okay, good, because I've seen a lot of shrinks in my life for no reason, but I didn't have a choice in the matter, so as long as she doesn't try to mind fuck me, it'd be fine."

Klaus blinked at the girl's choice of words, but it was evident she had a clear distaste in shrinks. "Oh, don't worry, love, she's not as good at mindfuckery."

Snorting, Myriam rolled her eyes as she loaded her plate. "You're only upset because she called you out on your shit and won't tolerate your games. Truthfully, I was ready to break her neck a few times when we first met her as she seemed quite interested in you."

"She's a waitress, they have to be nice," Bella shook her head, laughing. "It's in their job description."

"It's not when it's quite clear that a guy is there with another woman and very much involved," Myriam pointed out, glancing at Kol, who had turned his attention to focusing on his food.

She took a sip of her tea. "But sure, I'll meet her, because she's a part of your life and all."

"Which brings me to my original question, what's your last name, Bella?" Elijah mused as he buttered a biscuit.

Bella hesitated. "Officially or given?"

"Oh, now I'm intrigued," Elijah replied sincerely. "You were adopted?"

"The couple that I grew up knowing as my parents, found me. They said I had been left in the woods outside the town where my dad is from. So I know nothing about my birth parents."

"Interesting, so even with your last name, I'd be completely in the dark…" he said as he looked at her. "Did your parents try to find your birth parents?"

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Charlie is the police chief. Of course he's tried many times over the years, but nothing. He said it's like I appeared out of nowhere."

"Truly fascinating," Elijah replied, slowly nodding.

"Is that the only class of words you know?" she asked, irritation growing within her. "I'm not a science experiment."

Myriam let out a snort. "According to several news outlets and tv shows, you definitely are."

Bella swung her glare over to the woman. "And that is why I don't do those types of shows. I'm only another tool to them."

"Stop staring at her like that!" Kol shot at his siblings, annoyed. Bella wasn't a science project, just like she had said. He'd love to explore her abilities with her; not for science but for improvement and discovery.

"Kol," Klaus chided him gently. "Relax, we're merely trying to figure out what she is. Don't tell me you're not the least bit curious yourself."

"She is Bella and mine. Back off before I make you," he replied instead.

"I suppose I shall not mention that Bella agreed to give me some of her blood…" Myriam chirped, a smile dancing on her lips as she took a bite from a biscuit.

Kol swung his head around and looked questioningly at Bella. "Why did you do that?"

"Myriam wants it to see if she can find something about me, to explain a few things, what's wrong about that?"

"While I do trust Myriam not to do something with your blood other than what she says, anyone else could use it to control you. It's a very dangerous thing in magic, entrusting a witch with your blood. Klaus can tell you all about it when it comes to werewolves."

"I didn't give it out of my own free will, Kol," Klaus growled. "It was taken by force."

"Fine, no blood for anyone other than Myriam or yourself, got it," Bella said, slightly irritated still.

Kol stunned, sitting back and nodded, taking a bite of his biscuit. Unintelligible mumbling around the food was heard, but enough to earn a giggle from Myriam, who winked their way.

Bella relaxed somewhat and took another sip of her tea. "Oh, can I ask you a favor? I need a new introduction for my videos, and both Kol and Jeremy thought it'd be fun to record it in here, by night. Just a tiny insignificant corner that's not too telling."

Klaus looked up excitedly. "We have a dungeon downstairs you are more than welcome to use. Feel free to explore the building to your heart's content."

"That'd be nice, thank you," she smiled at him. "Tonight we're going back to the Sanatorium though, yes?" she looked at Kol. "Explore the other wing?"

He didn't exactly want to go back there just to have pieces of the building intentionally dumped on him. "Yes, Darling."

"I'm sure that the beams will stay in place tonight," Bella gently rubbed his arm. "They know your energy now, and they saw that you were doing something good last night. Good impressions."

"May I tag along to witness this?" Klaus asked. "I don't think I can believe Kol in something like this."

"Ah, no," Bella shook her head. "No doubt I still have to deal with the energy skidmark you left at the Sanatorium, that's enough for me, thanks."

Myriam snorted. "Skidmark."

"So, Klaus shat his pants?" Kol grinned.

"He left his mark on the hospital floors, yes," Bella muttered.

He looked thoughtful. "Well, it was kind of a shitty place."

"You picked it out, so we're going back," she retorted with a nod. "You see, I do these things and have enough footage to last a few weeks of postings, it's quite nice. But if you're too chicken to come with… I might just go by myself."

Kol frowned and glared at her. "You wouldn't dare! I'm not going to let you go there unprotected."

She ruffled his hair as she took another sip of her tea before finally paying some attention to her bacon and eggs. "Jeremy can go play with the wonder box on the level above us."

He looked interested and nodded. "Just promise you will keep them from attacking me. They could fuck around with Jeremy all they like."

"Of course," she smiled at him.

"When do you plan on recording this new intro then?" Klaus questioned. "We'll have to do some cleaning up, then.'

"Tomorrow?" Bella shrugged as she looked at Kol. "What do you think?"

"Yeah," Kol nodded. "We're going to get you some clothes to wear at the sanatorium tonight; there's no way I'll allow you to wear that dress there, what if you get cut by something?"

"Sounds like you two have a long day ahead of your trip tonight. Do fill us in when you come tomorrow. I will sort out as many areas without identifying pieces for you in the meanwhile," Klaus announced. "And do have lunch by Rousseau's. You will enjoy it, Bella."

"No long day. Just pants and a shirt to buy and then relaxation," Kol said determined, knowing what he had witnessed with her the previous day. "Lunch maybe tomorrow or the day after that. Not today. No more messing with Bella's pretty little head." He then thought for a moment before shooting Jeremy a text message. "I'm sending Jeremy to see if he can get some information about the sanatorium, like this Anna and this Derek you spoke to yesterday, it'll keep him busy until tonight."

"Or he can wait with that until we have more stories, that way he can do everything at once."

"What's the fun in that?"

"He's going in blind, not knowing who's going to be waiting to surprise him," she smirked.

"Yeah, but then WE are going in blind- oh wait, that's the whole point," he said as he shot Jeremy another message. 'Belay that order, Wesley; the Captain doesn't think it's necessary at this point. See you tonight.'

Bella rolled her eyes at him before finishing her tea and started to collect the dirty dishes again, like she had two days ago for dinner.

"Please stop doing that," Myriam said as she put her hands on Bella's wrists. "You're making me nervous. We have staff for this."

"You compel them. It's not right."

"They are so we don't have to pretend what we are, but they are paid handsomely," Klaus informed. "The ones who provide fresh blood are paid even more if that pleases you to hear."

Bella settled back against Kol and nodded. "It does make it a little better, I guess. I still don't know exactly how I feel about all the blood, though I know and accept it comes with the territory of being involved with a vampire."

"Aha!" Klaus smiled widely.

Kol blinked at her, unsure if she was aware of what she had said or not. Granted, there was involved, and then there was _involved_ , and she certainly was involved with him, sharing his space and all. "That's why I try not to have my blood in front of you, darling," he said as he gently ran his finger up and down her arm. "I know you don't like the sight of it."

"I can't get used to it if you hide it," she reasoned. "Did you keep them in the guest room before I stayed with you?"

"No," he smiled at her. "After our meeting and my invitation for you to come to my home, I acquired the fridge from the store below and put it in the guest room to store my blood. I'm quite… the glutton when it comes to the stuff."

Bella was confused and searched her memory. "I haven't seen you drinking it a lot the last couple days. What makes you say you're a glutton?"

"Oh, but remember, you were home alone a few times. Also; when you were in the shower, I drank. Or when you were passed out on the couch."

"You sound like an alcoholic trying to hide the alcoholism."

"I'm a vampire. I need blood," he pointed out.

"Then we're going to move your bags into the normal fridge. I gather it'll be blood bank grade and not contaminating the rest of the food?" Bella said resolutely. "I'm fine with it. No more hiding."

"So, let's finish up here, and we can begin our day. The sooner we can get out there, the sooner we can get back and rearrange things," Kol hinted.

They didn't stray far from the apartment, as they were only going to get some clothes for Bella. Of course, she was picky. He had already steered her away from the cheaper stores, but even then she wanted to look in the discount piles. But once he had made it clear they weren't leaving the store unless she went to the other end, she reluctantly went over and browsed through the clothes. He could tell she saw so many things she liked, but that she fought the urge to get it - mainly because it was either not functional enough for their outings or because of the price. Kol got the items for her anyway after noticing her size on the clothes that she did pick.

He was appalled by the underwear she chose, but if she felt comfortable in them, he was going to have to deal with it and _maybe_ convince Myriam to take her shopping once Kol and Bella had established a relationship. _Maybe_. Because Myriam would likely do it out of her own volition anyway.

Making his way over to another section, nearby Bella, he smirked as he held up a little white bikini. "How about this?"

She blinked at him, confused. "Why would I need a bikini?"

"Why not? You could always model it for me when you're bored," he answered suggestively. "Or cook dinner in it…"

She thought for a moment and then smirked. "And what? You'll dress up as a lifeguard?"

"I can be your Mitch if you like. Sure," he nodded like a demented bobblehead.

"I was more of a Matt girl," she winked at him as she took the bikini and put it in the basket. "But deal, go get your red speedo."

"What makes you think I don't already have one?" He asked, moving in behind her to nip at her throat. "This will be so much fun with you living with me. Imagine the trouble we can find!"

Bella let out a slight giggle. "Kol, we're in a clothes shop, try to behave," she said before she turned to him. "I mean… _our_ first time _together_ will not happen in one of those cubicles."

"No, of course not darling. I already have some thoughts as to that, but mum's the word," he smirked as he leered at her.

"Oh boy," she muttered to herself before inspecting the contents of her basket. "I've got pants, shirts, underwear, the essentials. I think we're done."

"Great! Let's check out and head home so we can get you settled in," he said, excited for the future now.

When Bella stood at the counter with the lady scanning her items, Kol plopped another basket next to it, overflowing with the clothes that she had looked at before, liking it but not buying it. "What?"

"Just go with it, darling," Kol smirked as he put his arm around her, looking at the lady at the counter. "Leave the pegs on, please, they need to be able to be hung in the closet."

"C-closet?" Bella blinked at him.

"Yeah, you deserve your own side of the closet, and I've got enough space," Kol grinned, electricity surging through his body, wanting to get Bella home so she could relax. In his arms. On the bed. Yep.

He carried the bags as they walked home, it was only a short walk, and Bella wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she was going with it. She wasn't going to fight it, if, for some reason, this was meant to be, then it was that way. She had meant what she said the previous night; she needed Kol in her life. She could feel it, deep inside, but it was hard to explain.

As Kol opened the door and had her go inside first - with her walking up the stairs he had a great view, he smirked. "I definitely need to get you your own set of keys now."

"Why?"

"Because you're moving in! No way I'm going to miss out on this view..." his eyes firmly attached to her rear end.

She looked behind her and saw him stare at her ass. "Hey, I'm wearing a dress. Eyes up!"

"Such a pretty lovely, yes. You could just take it off," he waggled his eyebrows as he turned his gaze upward. Kol definitely liked Bella more when she didn't have to deal with other people like his siblings. She was more comfortable, at ease, and even flirtatious.

"Oh dear God," Bella muttered, shaking her head as she walked into the livingroom. "My dad would have shot you for that remark."

"He could if it makes him feel better, but he can't kill me. Nik has the only weapon that can kill us," he replied, dropping the bags and quickly made his way back to her and pulled her against him. "Enough speaking of your father. He's across the country, and I have you here."

"That's true," she smiled up at him. "We're all alone… nobody to interrupt us…" At that exact moment, her phone rang. "Damnit," she cursed as she reached for her backpack to get her phone out.

He raised an eyebrow, displeased as he had begun to lean in to properly kiss her finally. At seeing exactly who was calling he shook his head. "I'll go - put your stuff away. Yeah, that sounds good." And he bolted in a blink to the bedroom with her bags.

"Chicken!" Bella called after him before answering the phone, putting it on speaker as she slowly walked towards the closed bedroom door to lean against it. "Hey dad, how are you?"

" _You spent two weeks in a freaking convent to come to your senses after you were consumed by a dark entity and you don't bother to tell me?!"_ Charlie's voice bellowed through the phone. " _Or call me after, telling me you're alright?"_

"Sorry? I'm doing okay, really. I'm in New Orleans now and just got in from doing some shopping," she winced. "I know I should have called you, but everything moved so fast once I got here."

Charlie huffed. " _When Jake returned without you I wasn't sure what to think, you should have called, Bella. You're my girl. My precious little girl and having you out there in the world doing what you do without someone…"_

Letting out a deep breath, she glanced towards the bedroom door. "I have someone here to protect me. His friend also joined up and we worked out an arrangement for everything, so I'm excited for what is to come."

" _I need to vet these people, who are they?"_

"Dad. Please, would you just trust me? They've done nothing but watch out for me since we met, and trust some of it was an argument. They are dead set on their agreement and have not let anything happen."

" _So something has happened? Bella, I'm coming to get you. You're coming home."_

She groaned loudly. "I am home now. I love it here, and everything is just easier. I don't want to come back."

" _I need to see you're alright with my own eyes. Jake just spent a week locked in a shaman's cabin to cleanse him from whatever ailed him. You meeting these two new people in your life, I need to make sure they're trustworthy. I trust you, sweetheart, I do, but you're my little girl."_

"All I need is my things to be sent down. I can give you the information, but we're doing great here. Kol's done nothing but treat me like some sort of royalty in making sure I have everything I need. Some of the spirits at our visit last night liked him, even with their pranks. I really am okay dad, for the first time that I can remember, I feel peace here."

Charlie mumbled something. " _Where are you staying?"_

Bella bit her lip as she tried to think of how to avoid answering the question while she went over to the fridge to get something to drink. "I'm...erm…" Compared to her mother - who was a Doberman on crack - Charlie was like a big fluffy St. Bernard dog. A follower, thinking he was doing the right thing. But Bella knew why her dad was asking her where she was staying. He wanted to come and get her and take her home. And there was no way in hell she was going to allow it to happen. She had a chance of a real life now. She was living a real life with people who accepted who she was, who believed her.

" _Staying at someone's house?"_

"Kinda, sorta in a way…"

It was almost as if she could hear him narrowing his eyes at her. " _Are you involved with someone? Bella, you've been in New Orleans for less than two weeks!"_

"I can't explain it but you know about the feelings I get, and it feels right. He's great and believe me that I was unsure when I first met him, but he's proved everything he told me by his actions in spades. I won't hear of this anymore. If you can't accept this, then I'm sorry Dad. I'm staying here and look forward to what comes with Kol."

" _You doing drugs?"_

"Jesus dad! Stop this now!" she exclaimed, turning around to find Kol leaning against the bedroom door frame in just his pants. "Uh-"

Kol waggled his eyebrows at her. "Hang up," he mouthed.

"I gotta go, dad. Call you later," she hurriedly babbled and hung up, still staring at him. "Uhh-"

"Yeah, I have to admit, I do look pretty damn good, don't I?" He smirked as he motioned to his body. "Why won't you come with me? You look like you could use some relaxation and darling, I know all the good spots," he winked at her, holding out his hand.

"Umm…." she mumbled, making her way over, unable to peel her eyes off of him. She had woken up with him in bed with her that morning, but this just felt so much different. As soon as she was closer, she couldn't help but reach up to touch him as he held her tightly. "You are evil."

"You have no idea, Bella, you have no idea," he whispered in her ear, sending vibrations through her body as he pulled her into the bedroom.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** If you haven't been aware, FF has had some issues with giving chapter updates. This story was updated 11 days ago with chapter 8. If you haven't read that one yet, read it first before this one!

This is the same for Buggy's story Divine Happenstance. It has been updated, notifications haven't been sent out and the story hasn't bumped up when she updated.

Posting this chapter will be a test to see if there are notifications being sent!

xxx Meeko & Buggy

* * *

Kol lied in the bed, his arm propping his head up as he ran his fingers over Bella's back. He didn't want to have to get out of the bed to get ready for their next visit to the Sanitorium. Of course, it would seriously cut in on his one on one time with his girl. And he was pleased he could say that, a smile on his face at the thought.

It had taken every ounce of self control not to do more with her than the very thorough massage he had given her, exploring her body with his hands, her squirming underneath his touch and her quiet moans almost made him lose it, but he kept in mind that she wanted to go exploring that night; he didn't want her to be tired or on cloud nine while doing so, allowing her guard to go down. Perhaps he could persuade her not to go tomorrow.

Had it been anyone else than Bella, he would have just taken what he wanted, but this girl, who was still happily snoozing, could make him do the strangest things. "Hey, sleepy head," he said in a singsong voice as he drew tiny circles on her back with his fingers that had teasingly grazed over her breasts only hours before, causing her body to spasm into him. So deliciously. "You still want to go and poke at some ghosts tonight?" He wanted her to say 'no' so he could show her some other way to relax, but maybe it was a good thing that now there was time to talk about it, because he wasn't sure if he could have sex without staking a true claim on her.

Bella let out a small moan as she stirred, stretching out like a cat and turned her head to smile sleepily at him. "You really don't want to go back right away, do you? Was there something else you had in mind?"

He could feel his cock twitch. "Yes," he admitted as he softly placed a kiss on her forehead. While he hadn't been sure about taking _that_ step with her, over the course of the day something had changed between them and she was more receptive of him. While he had massaged her, he had felt her body temperature shift. Her juices started flowing and she was definitely turned on as he had touched her, but he felt that it was still a big thing for her. "But that can wait."

She reached out and ran her hand over his chest, a speculative look on her face. "I have something else in mind too. You may be surprised. I think the only one that would be really disappointed is Jeremy."

"Well," Kol tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked at her. "First, I'd love to kiss you some more," he smiled at her. Oh, their make out session had been epic, he'd been over the moon and was so glad that she allowed him to touch her all over during the massage. Best. Day. Ever. "And second…" his hand traveled over her back towards her hips, gently nudging her to fully turn around. "I'd really want everything here with you, but I do have to warn you for when we do - move forward."

"Warn me?" she asked, her hands exploring his body now in such a way that spoke right into the subject he had initiated.

"I might not be able to fight the urge to claim you as rightfully mine."

She smiled at him, somewhat expecting what he admitted after her conversation with Myriam. "You mean biting me?"

"Oh, it's so much more than that," he said, running a finger up her torso, circling it around one of her nipples. "But yes, mostly biting you at the right moment."

"I thought that's what this afternoon was leading to from the moment you told me to hang up with my father, to be honest. I just don't understand why you're stalling so hard."

Kol blinked at her. "Well, mostly because you wanted to go out tonight and I wanted to be sure that that happened, but also because… well… because!" He mumbled, flabbergasted. "What exactly did you discuss with Myriam anyway?"

"Enough to have a larger view of what's happening and she simply wanted to confirm that I knew what I was getting myself into and that I was okay with it all," she shrugged. "It is rather amusing how you kept trying to figure out how to admit that you want me."

"Oh, you devious minx," Kol barked out a laugh, shaking his head. "And here I thought you were this innocent little being."

"I mean it, though," she said as she made him look at her. "Whatever's happening between us, I think we shouldn't fight it. I don't care what other people might think about what we have, but we surely have something and I can feel it bubble underneath my skin, itching to get out. I do admit, that it's quite frightening, but I'm with you. I trust you, Kol. With everything inside of me, I trust you - I want you."

He quickly moved to box her in beneath him, pressing his lips to hers. "You do know that there will be no going back because I don't intend on letting you go anytime soon."

"I don't intend on leaving you, Kol," she replied, her eyes darkened with passion. "Whatever has lead me to you has done that for a reason. As I said to Charlie, I've never felt as safe, at ease and more like myself and relaxed when I'm with you," she said as she dug her hand into his hair. "I am completely yours, everything about me is yours and yours to take."

"Would you consider making the transition?" he whispered, pressing himself against her so that she was clear on how close to gone he was.

"Yes," she let out a moan. "I'm yours to do with, whatever you want, need, everything. Yours."

He captured her lips with his, his hands roaming over her body as they kissed, not bothering with the endless foreplay because they had just had hours of it of him massaging her. She was right, there was something burning inside of him, itching to get out.

She gasped against his mouth as he started to open her up for him with one of his hands, her whole body arching into his as he tried to be patient for this part, but quickly inserted a second finger. "I'll have to apologize if I hurt you," he said between frantic kisses.

"Yours," she reminded him as her nails scratched his back when he inserted a third finger, moving his fingers around - stretching, turning, moving his fingers inside of her before removing them and silencing her moan with his mouth as he pushed inside of her, gently but urgently.

Her legs wrapped around him, giving him better access to her as he sunk inside of her, waiting patiently until she stopped whimpering. "Sorry," he whispered in her ear before nuzzling her earlobe. When she relaxed again, he started to pull back and push back in, soon settling for a good pace for the both of them.

Kol could feel every fibre of his being being set ablaze as Bella's body underneath him felt hot to the touch as well, she looked delirious, her eyes had trouble focussing on him and she had this goofy smile on her face that he loved so much. He could feel her body getting closer and closer to the edge, her pants and moans sounded like music to his ears.

Nuzzling her neck, he kept thrusting inside of her and at the moment when both their bodies stilled in ecstasy, he bit her neck, causing her to fly apart even harder against him. Her blood tasted so sweet in his mouth, but he knew when to stop. Kol managed not to topple on top of her as he pulled out of her and pulled her against him as they both recovered from the intense need, intense want for each other. "Mine," he muttered against her forehead.

"Hmm, yes," she murmured, smiling with a dazed look up at him.

Kol waited a few moments for her to calm down before he bit into his hand for her to take his blood. Holding his bleeding hand to her lips, he whispered, "Open up… You'll feel better when you drink."

Bella gently took hold of his hand and did as she was told, her face scrunching up in disgust as she swallowed his blood, causing Kol to laugh.

"Good girl," he said as he wiped his hand on the sheet and pulled her back into his arms.

Almost as if on cue to intentionally disturb their comfort, Kol's cell phone began to ring. It was only then that he realized how late it had gotten while they were lost in one another. Sighing, he rolled over to grab the irritating device. "What do you want?" he demanded as he answered.

" _Where you two at?"_ Jeremy's voice sounded.

"We are in bed…" he answered, a smile in his voice as he reached back over to run his hand over Bella again.

" _Awesome. Congrats. See you tomorrow!"_

"Yup. Later," he said and hung up.

"Now, had he been a girl, she'd want to know every detail…" Bella murmured as she rolled into him again. "No more phones."

Kol smirked and handed her his phone. "I could dial Myriam and tell her what happened."

"Noooo," Bella tossed the phone to the end of the bed. "No."

"I figured as much. But, you can bet she'll sense the change between us after tonight and demand a query."

"I already told her that that wasn't going to happen," Bella replied. "She was so excited to have another 'girl' around to do 'girl talk' with, someone who wasn't your sister."

He merely smiled at her, knowing how persistent his sister was. She still had no idea about how his family fully worked. "Give it time. You'll find your own way of putting her in her place."

Bella blinked, almost as if she was missing something. "Hey," she said as she poked him in the chest with her finger. "Does your blood have healing properties or something?"

"Actually yeah. Why do you ask?" Kol questioned, kissing along her shoulder.

"Because we just had the most amazing sex and I don't feel the after math. That's not fair," she said as she poked him in the chest again. "I _want_ to be able to feel you inside of me still even when you're not."

He laughed and lifted his head. "We have all night darling and trust that all you have to do is say the word and I'll find us someplace private. Or we could just turn you into a little exhibitionist. We could give your ghostly friends a show."

"I wouldn't go that far," Bella said as she pushed him back onto the mattress and climbed on top of him, wiggling her ass down over his cock as she kissed him. "Now, does this position really work?" she asked innocently before letting out a squeal of delight as Kol grabbed her.

~o.O.o~

Bella woke up the next morning, sore all over and grinned to herself. It was the best feeling ever. She found the bed empty, but heard enough coming from outside the bedroom that she knew that Kol was still inside. She took a few of her new clothes into the bathroom and quickly took a shower before joining him in the kitchen. He looked like a god. Her god. There was almost as if there was a glow coming off of him, he was that perfect. "Morning," she smiled at him, stopping in front of him to softly kiss him, making him stop moving his blood bags in the fridge. "New batch?"

"Some yes. Myriam restocked her own and grabbed me extra. She isn't into feeding from the source as much as you'd think considering her relationship with Nik. So she helps keep me pretty well stocked. How'd you sleep?" he asked, his eyes drinking in her curves hungrily.

"Oh, very well," she giggled as she softly kissed him again. "What about you?"

"Never better. Though you should know that your phone has been pinging all morning. I was tempted to answer it but then saw who it was and left it the hell alone. Anyway, want to to go out for breakfast?"

Bella thought for a moment, knowing that nobody had her number, not even Kol at this point. "Yes, breakfast," she nodded as she moved past him to get to her phone and listening to her voicemail.

' _Bella, this is your father speaking, I am going to take the first plane out of Seattle towards New Orleans, you'd better be at the airport around 11 am to come and pick me up!'_

Bella stared at Kol in shock. "Oh crap!"

He appeared almost terrified, frozen in place with a blood bag in his hand. Not a great appearance for a fearsome vampire. "This means I have to meet your father so soon?"

"No, no, no, no," Bella said as she started to pace around. A part of her wanted to run; she wasn't ready for Charlie herself. Another part didn't want to let down the viewers who voted for her to go to New Orleans, but screw that. "We need to leave town. Like… totally leave town. Pack up and go. Maybe road trip around America and just see if we find ghosts to share," she rambled as she ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, that's a great idea." She then stopped to look at Kol. "What do you think?"

Kol raised a brow and nodded. "I'm game. You can start getting us prepared here, packing what we need for the both of us. I'll run across the street and fill Nik and Myriam in so that they aren't surprised that we disappeared. And of course call Jeremy."

"Great. You have bigger suitcases than my small trolley?"

"In the closet. I'll also take Myriam's or Nik's. We'll be well covered in luggage," he rushed, kissing her as he pulled a shirt on and headed for the door. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Okay," Bella replied as she got a piece of fruit and headed into the bedroom to find those suitcases. The intense fear of Charlie had lessened significantly and she then realized that it was Kol's own fears that she had picked up on. However, it still was too soon to meet Charlie. She didn't want to see Charlie this soon, either. She didn't want to leave New Orleans, not one bit, there was still so much to learn, so much to see, but she knew that she would return eventually. This was home now.

"Oh, I don't like that look of panic on your face," Myriam greeted Kol. "Did you kill someone?"

"I need your luggage pieces," Kol replied as he made his way through the courtyard. "Where is my brother?"

"What's going on?" Myriam asked worriedly. "Something with Bella?"

He climbed up the stairs, two at a time. "Her father is on his way to New Orleans and she wants to run. Totally does not want to see him so we are going to leave town until he is gone. Nik!"

"Nah, you're going to leave for longer," Myriam said as she followed him. "I know your pieces of luggage, you're going to pack up for much longer. You'd likely want the truck as well?"

Kol stopped short and turned to her. "That'd be great. Which one? Nik's would be large enough for the three of us and Bella's new toys. He can always buy a new one."

"Yeah, sure," Myriam smiled at him. "Stop by to see me before you leave, I'll make a voodoo care package for your lovely girlfriend," she winked.

"Great," he nodded distractedly and ran for Klaus' study.

"Brother!" Klaus greeted him with a paintbrush in his hand, the biggest smile on his face as he had caught the two scents on him. "You two decided not to take it easy, then?"

"She let her desires be known. I'm here to let you know we are leaving town for awhile. Keep an eye on my place for me in case some visitors come by?" he asked.

Klaus let out a sigh of relief. It was a good thing that his brother was leaving town with his ghost loving girlfriend, it was very likely that had she continued to do whatever she did, she'd uncover more of his secrets. "Take as long as you need. Is there anything I should be worried about while you're honeymooning?"

"Bella's father."

"Ah, the police chief," Klaus said playfully. "Not to worry, if we come across him, we'll keep him occupied and… _pleasant_."

"Compel him and send him back home with no desire to chase his daughter down. Your particular style of hospitality isn't what is needed. Perhaps I should speak to Elijah about this."

"Nonsense! I solemnly swear that I shall do as you requested… after I try to get every bit of information about your dear Bella from him in order to figure out where she came from, of course."

"She was an abandoned child. What is there to know? It bothers her enough."

"You know as well as I do that parents don't like to tell the whole truth to their children in order to protect them. I want to know if he's hiding something. Maybe get the location of Bella's adoptive mother and seek her out as well."

As much as Kol wanted to protect Bella, Klaus was right; they needed to know more, and parents did lie. He knew that more than any of them. Bella didn't have to know everything quite yet. "Fine, but not a scratch on them!"

"I promise," Klaus nodded. "I can be subtle if I have to be."

"About as subtle as a sledgehammer," Myriam joked, dropping the couple's luggage outside the study. "You'll send us postcards and souvenirs from everywhere, right?"

Kol sighed as he turned to Myriam. "Yes _mom_."

"Well, we would like to know everything is okay in case you need help. And other than my occasional trips, I don't go anywhere because of the old man here. Paint, paint, paint. I should search to see if there are any conventions coming up soon…" Myriam mumbled at the end, heading over to Klaus' desk to start planning her next trip.

"You're my muse, love, don't I paint pretty pictures of you all the time?" Klaus smiled at her before going over to his desk and getting the keys to his truck out of it. "I heard you wanted my truck. Here you go," he said, handing the keys over to his brother. "Take as long as you both need or want. We'll take care of your apartment in your absence. Should you run into our wildling sister, tell her to come home for a bit? You could invite me in, instead of it just being Myriam having access…"

"I'm special and his favorite sibling," Myriam voiced. "There is a vampire convention in Las Vegas! Klaus! Go with me!"

Klaus groaned as an answer. "I'll go with you to Las Vegas, love, but I'll be at the casino."

"Don't want to put the fake vampires in their place? Pity. I thought you were the baddest of them all."

"Yeah, so, I'll be off then," Kol said as he backed out of the study, knowing just what was about to begin with the two and he wanted to be anywhere else but there. "I'm going to help Bella pack."

"The smallest luggage case is a gift for Bella," Myriam said distractedly as she kept her eyes on her vampire. "I hope that the contents will please her."

"Thanks," Kol said as he grabbed the bags and headed back to his own apartment. "You'd better packed royally! All of your new clothes and the same amount of mine!" He playfully called out to her, finding her still in the bedroom, carefully packing two suitcases. "Oh, look at you, being all great at packing."

Bella smiled at him. "I try my best. Are any of the bags from your brother with a hard shell? I want to make sure that nothing can hurt the pricey equipment."

"Yes," Kol replied as he got his phone off the bed and dialed Jeremy's number on speaker.

" _What's up?"_

"We're leaving town, how soon can you be ready?"

" _Oh,"_ Jeremy sounded a bit bummed about that. " _Give me an hour. I'm sure I'll hear the reason soon enough."_

"Sure," Kol said, disconnecting the call and looked at the clothes Bella was packing for him. She had packed all of his favourite shirts and had left the ones he didn't like in the closet. Oh, she was definitely the one. "I'm going to pack up the equipment, and uh… you may want to check the smaller case that I brought back, it's a gift from Myriam, don't know what's in it."

"I'll look when we get out of town and settled in somewhere for the night. I just want out of here right now," Bella said as she eagerly pulled out more clothes to fill the luggage for them. "What about your blood? Can you get it on the road or delivered or something? I'd let you drink from me, but I don't know how much it would affect things at locations."

"There are ways to get blood bags once we decide to settle for a week or so, other than that, I'll get a happy mean along the way and hope it doesn't set off our friend the vampire hunter."

Bella nodded, drawing in a breath. "Well, I'm here in a pinch. I won't let you go hungry. But, right now...packing. There is still a lot to take with us. Any chance you can chip in your super speed?"

"You just heard Jeremy, he'll be done in an hour and so shall we," Kol smiled at her. "Besides, while I'm quite accurate when speeding, I don't want to accidentally break our pretty toys."

"We'll put them in last. I'm too anxious to stay here much longer. Dad had to have gotten a red eye and it's already almost 930am."

"It's not 11 am yet," Kol said as he walked over to her and kissed the top of her head. "But very well, we'll pack everything up, get the car, move everything in the car and go to Jeremy instead, how's that?" Before she could give an answer, he zoomed across the room, making sure the clothes were complete before taking everything out of the bathroom. Kol pushed her backpack into her arms, now with her laptop in there and external hard drive and slowed down to pack the equipment into the hardshell suitcase. Once he was done, he looked around, a questionable look on his face. "Shall we bring the xbox too?"

She snorted and nodded. "Sure. Most hotels let you hook up game stations," she replied. "Jeremy will enjoy it too I'm sure."

He opened his suitcase and got all the cords, chargers, and whatever they needed for their recharging things and xbox before stuffing it all inside, no matter if it was all tangled or not. "Done. Let me get the car," he quickly kissed her before speeding out, returning five minutes later with the truck.

Kol wrapped Bella into a blanket and carried her into the car, causing her to giggle. It wasn't cold enough for a blanket, but she looked so ridiculously adorable all wrapped up. He then started to load up the truck.

"I'm feeling useless now!" Bella called after him.

"I'm here to please your every whim," he joked. "Your personal slave."

Bella thought for a moment. "Can we go through the McDonald's drive thru on our way out for breakfast?"

"Oh, good idea," Kol smirked as he locked up his apartment and got into the cab. "Off to fetch the Gilbert boy," he said, starting the car and driving to the hotel where Jeremy was just exiting. "Great timing!"

"A little eager to get out of here to avoid the dad?" Jeremy grinned as he tossed his bags in the backseat and climbed in. "Nice ride. Who'd you steal it from?"

"How did you know that my dad's coming to town?" Bella shot at him. "Kol didn't say anything."

"Really? I thought he did. I swear. That's weird," he replied, genuinely confused.

"But yeah, don't want to face Charlie right now," Bella said, rubbing her arms in slight agitation.

Jeremy looked at her before turning to Kol who was tapping his hands on the steering wheel anxiously. "Are you sure you aren't picking up someone else's anxiety?"

"Yeah, of course I am," Bella replied before looking at Jeremy. "But I don't want to see my dad right now."

"Do you have daddy issues? Because I know someone else here that certainly does," he pointed out.

"I said yes, Jeremy," she said as she turned into her seat, back to facing to the front and letting out a sigh of relief when Kol started to drive towards the drive thru. "MacD's for breakfast, how does that sound?"

He agreed easily. "It's food. No complaints from me. So, Kol? You're missing a great opportunity to ask her dad if you could marry her. You couldn't talk her out of running?"

"If and when Bella and I have the desire to get married, we don't need anyone's approval," Kol replied as he kept his eyes fixed on the road. "Apart from Nik's, but that's another thing."

"I think we're good," Bella nodded. "I don't believe in marriage, it's stupid and old fashioned. What Kol and I have is so much more. So much better and Myriam says it's like being married already anyway. Just without papers and parties and fancy dresses… although it would be fun to have a cake, just to have a food fight."

Kol smiled as he silently drove. He was in agreement with her but he was also a little more sentimental and already thought it would be a gesture her father would appreciate. That is if they would be able to get that far with the man. They did just run out of town in order to avoid him and it felt almost as if he was running from Mikael again.

"Look at that, cloud nine," Jeremy smirked as he leaned back. "Well, since it's sharing time, I had some fun last night too."

"I really don't need to hear about any conquests," Bella cringed.

"You didn't scare the children, did you?" Kol asked, looking in his rearview mirror. "Scarred them for eternity?"

"Oh, no, but the matron made it abundantly clear that she wasn't too happy with me," Jeremy grinned. "She set off the fire alarm multiple times."

Bella sighed and looked over at her boyfriend. "Is there anything you can do to stop him in case we stay somewhere haunted?"

"What do you mean?" Kol blinked at her as he turned to go through the drive thru.

"That he doesn't disturb the dead like that? I don't want to have to hear their complaints."

"You hear that, Jer? While we're on the road, no nookie in the same building we're staying at," he said, eying him in the mirror.

"What! What about you guys? There's no way that now that you two have happened, you won't have any!" Jeremy protested.

" _Welcome to McDonalds!"_ A disembodied voice sounded through the speaker. " _How may I help you today?"_

"Yeah, can I have -" Kol started to speak and scrunched his face at the menu. "Two bacon and egg bagels…" He looked over at Bella for her order.

"A big mac and-" she saw the incredulous look on his face. "What? It's breakfast! It's got bread, cheese and salad and meat!"

Kol shook his head. "They don't have that until 11:00."

Bella scowled. "Pancakes and a Sausage McMuffin then."

"Pancakes and sausage McMuffin," he added, calling out to the speaker with the potential evp material.

"And I'll have three of what you're having, Kol, please," Jeremy said from the backseat.

"Make that five bagel sandwiches instead of two. And ten hashbrowns, and three large coffees."

"Oh, can I have a caramel mocha instead?"

"And a caramel mocha thingie," Kol included, glancing in his rearview mirror. "And add in a M&M McFlurry for the kid the backseat."

"Hey!" Jeremy objected, then thought for a moment, bursting out in a big smile. "Thanks!"

Bella was quiet as she poked Kol's arm. "I want an Oreo one."

"And an Oreo McFlurry…"

"And orange juice."

"And a large orange juice," Kol added. "That will be all, thank you."

There was some silence before the disembodied voice responded. " _Five bacon and egg bagels, one hotcakes, one sausage McMuffin, three large coffees, two McFlurries, one Oreo and one M &M, and caramel mocha latte, and large orange juice. Would you like the latte hot or iced?"_

"Hot."

" _And how would you like coffees?"_

"Light and sweet like my girl."

Bella giggled uncontrollably.

" _That will be $43.39. Please drive up to the first window._ "

Jeremy rustled into his pocket and handed Kol a 50 dollar bill. "Breakfast is on me."

Kol snatched the money when he stopped at the window to pay the guy, smiling cheerfully at the scowl he received for their ridiculous order. "Having a good day, mate?"

"Peachy, sir, just peachy," the guy greeted him as he rung them up.

"Hey, uhm…" Bella leaned forward to look at the guy. "Is your name Tim, perhaps?"

Kol let out a sigh. "Here we go…"

The guy looked at them suspiciously. "Why?"

"Your nana Patrice is very proud of you," Bella smiled.

Tim shoved their change into Kol's hand. "You're weird lady."

"Oh, I know, don't worry about that," she said as if she was listening. "Patrice thinks you're an amazing father as well, to your little girl? Yeah. Don't worry, that rash on her bum will disappear within a couple of days."

"Look lady, I don't know who you are but you are really freaking me out. I should call the cops."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I sometimes just can't help myself. Patrice wanted me to tell you this so bad."

"My grandmother is dead so you need to leave before I really do call the cops."

"You'll have to excuse my sister," Jeremy said as he pulled Bella back into her seat. "She's not entirely right in her head. We'll go to the next window and get our stuff. Sorry to bother you."

Tim shooed them away, disturbed by the group entirely.

"Did you have to do that?" Jeremy scolded Bella, removing his hand from her.

"I couldn't help it!" Bella shot at him. "Patrice was yelling and yelling ever since we pulled up to the speaker and she wouldn't shut up until I told her grandson how wonderful he is."

"About as wonderful as my next source of blood," Kol joked. "We can't do that with everyone. Many people just aren't open to the paranormal."

"I know that, Kol," Bella said angrily. "Jake was the one going out in the world to get me food, I only left the hotel for adventures or to travel because sometimes, despite all my efforts, the dead won't shut up. I got punched a few times because I couldn't stop it in the past and people don't like to hear positive messages from the dead. Obviously." She then let out a sigh as they rolled up to the next window. "I've been good so far, excuse me for this slip."

As soon as they stopped again, Kol put the truck into park and turned to her. "I understand. I do, but we need to try to more careful and this is our first time outside of what became our comfort zone. We've gotten so used to the apartment that I'm sure it will be overwhelming the coming days. I'll do what I can to help you, but I don't know how to keep them from harassing you."

"I'll be fine," she said softly. "I'm sorry, okay? I should have a better handle on this by now."

"No. It's our fault for not anticipating this. We just got too used to having the world to ourselves," he assured her, pulling her to him and kissing her temple. "You'll be fine."

"Dude. Kiss later. Food now," Jeremy interrupted, along with his stomach growling loudly.

After their breakfast, Kol continued to drive as Bella fell asleep next to him. "We really need a better game plan, Gilbert."

"You can just compel them after she does something like this again," Jeremy said with a shrug, pulling out his phone. "Make them forget."

"It's definitely worth considering. Especially if they are as uneasy by it as this guy was," Kol agreed.

Jeremy was quiet for a moment as he was thinking and then spoke up. "Did you feed her your blood lately?"

"Of course."

"Yeah, see, I think that's one of the problems right there. She has a handle on her abilities, but with your blood in her system fucking things up…"

"Oh, so now it's my fault!" Kol huffed. "No, Gilbert, and you'd better shut up before I pull this car over and leave you on the side of the road. Give her some time, she'll be alright."


	11. Chapter 10

Bella had almost two hours of sleep when she was roused from her slumber by her phone ringing. Not bothering to see who it was - as she already knew, she answered by putting it on the speaker. "Hi dad," she greeted him as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

" _Bella, I left you a message to come and get me from the airport, where are you?"_

"Oh," she said sheepishly. "Somewhere along the Mississippi river," she looked around to confirm. "Yeah, we left town this morning, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were coming."

" _ISABELLA! You turn right back around now!"_

"No, we have plans, dad," she replied. "I'm sorry you made the trip out for nothing, but you can go home now."

She could hear his breathing and cringed, curling up into the fetal position in her seat. " _Bella. I took a week off from work to make sure you were okay here."_

"You used to trust me on my word," Bella replied, holding out the phone. "What changed?"

" _When I knew the person you were traveling with. I want to meet these guys. It's not too much to ask to make sure my daughter is safe."_

"So what you're saying is that Jake kept an eye on me because of you and now you want me to return to keep me away from the world, is that it?"

" _No Bella…"_

"You know who you sound like right now? Mom. Everything was fine, but little Bella needs some help because she has too many invisible friends and she's seeing things, ooh, she's doing something scary, let's get her another shrink. Found Bella wandering the cemetery at night, let's put a lock on the door. Oh, and Bella feels a lot of pain, let's take her to the fucking mental asylum to fix her!"

" _You were only fifteen. We didn't know what to do to help that. You screamed about being stabbed in the chest and we panicked. We never anticipated you having such abilities and your mother isn't as open about it as I am. But you were a child!"_

"Nah," Bella huffed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "You don't trust me to make my own decisions, trust my abilities in knowing that I have found the right people. I'm a grown woman and I'm not your little girl anymore." She opened her window and threw out her phone. Anyone of importance reached her through her email anyway.

Kol and Jeremy remained quiet as she calmed down and only then did Kol risk speaking. "So… we're not going to be planning a trip to Washington anytime soon?"

"You want that asshole to be your father in law?" Bella said bitterly, hugging her knees to her chest.

"He's your family," he mumbled, focusing on driving again. "Give it time. I'm sure Myriam and Nik will come across him and deal with it for us."

"I don't want to risk going to Washington because he'll find a way to keep me and keep you away from me. He's really tight with Jake's dad and their tribe, god knows what they could do," she said softly, looking at him. "I know I'm strange and weird and I try to be good. Dad thinks he's the only one who can take care of me but his solution is to lock me up so I don't end up hurting myself…" She then let out a snort, realizing something. "Seems like we've got more in common than we both realized."

"I believe you and we'll deal with everything. We will try to make things work with him. Just relax now and let's enjoy this trip. We have plenty of time and can go anywhere," Kol smiled at her, reaching for her hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the mental hospital… it's uh… kinda embarrassing."

"It happens. Humans don't know how to handle the paranormal or supernatural most times. They fear what they don't understand, but it does sound like he tries to understand you."

"He's been controlling me through Jake, don't see how that's understanding," she sighed and shook her head.

"He could have tried to keep you from going on the road at all if that was the case," Jeremy offered.

"But still, he didn't allow me to go alone. I was 19 when I started this, all of this."

Kol pulled out his phone and handed it to Bella. "Text Nik or Myriam to give them the heads up that he is officially in town. They already know he might find his way around."

"Yeah, no doubt he pinged my phone when we were at the apartment," Bella huffed as she started to text Myriam. "I'm sorry I freaked out."

"It's fine," Jeremy smiled at her, giving her a gentle squeeze on her shoulder. "I think you're amazing in any case, certified crazy or not."

"Not certified. I learned quickly enough to be somewhat normal and they released me to my parents. Don't remember much, it's all a blur."

Kol was curious at that, knowing what he knew of mental facilities. "Did they do shock therapy on you?"

She put the phone down in her lap after texting Myriam and went quiet for awhile, almost as if she was searching her memories. "Likely. I see baths, darkness… syringes… Well, if anything, if they did do shock therapy on me, I wouldn't be awake for it, they knock you out these days," she said with a slight chuckle. "It's also possible that I might have fought back… can't help but to think that I swung a chair at someone."

"When we stop for the night, I could try and see if I can get into your mind and see what memories are hiding from you if you want," Kol volunteered, kissing her hand.

"Oh, I think that's a great idea," Jeremy said, intrigued. "Who knows what's hiding up in your mind?"

"I wouldn't want to remember, though," Bella said, squeezing Kol's hand. "But you can have a look if you want."

Kol nodded but was still concerned. "I can look and depending on what kind of blockage there is in your mind, it should still hold. Wouldn't it be nice to have an idea of what happened in case the memories come back to you suddenly?"

"Yeah, I mean, we went to a flipping former Sanatorium in New Orleans, at night, what if you get triggered by something during one of our trips?" Jeremy piped up. "Freaking out on the spot is never a great feeling."

"I'm only curious as to what lead my parents to have me admitted. Dad just said that I saw people getting stabbed and all, but I'm not visual in any way, apart from that skidmark of Klaus in New Orleans, but that's different, because there's a connection with him through Kol."

Jeremy was curious as to what she saw and certainly felt that she wasn't crazy. "How were they stabbed? Do you remember?"

"I don't remember that at all," Bella shook her head. "I don't remember a lot from my childhood leading up to my 'vacation'."

Kol was unsure about the growth of her abilities now. "So you were able to see things before? The thing with Klaus isn't new then. Perhaps a suppressed ability from whatever happened in your past."

"I don't know," Bella repeated herself. "I only know what Charlie told me about seeing things, but young children usually see spirits, because they're open. It's when they get older they stop seeing things, or not. They stop believing, or not."

"We just keep track of your gifts. We will figure it out why you are changing."

"Whatever, I just want to avoid Charlie," she shrugged as she lowered her legs again, trying to relax. "Any idea where you want to stop for the day?"

"Oh, what about Memphis?" Jeremy said, bouncing in the back seat. "I hear it's a great city. Very haunted, too."

"No," Bella shook her head, eyeing Jeremy curiously. "It's a very haunted town and I'm not going to set foot in that. You can compare it to New Orleans. I've been to Memphis before and it was a nightmare."

"Maybe you should check out Myriam's present to see what she gave you? I had asked if she might be able to devise something to help so she may have something in there," Kol suggested.

Bella sighed as she looked at Jeremy. "Could you hand me that small suitcase, please?"

"This one?" He lifted it up, it was more like a beauty case that women tended to carry around, usually filled with make up. Jeremy moved it over and Bella was surprised by the weight of it.

"Hmm, I'm a little scared, now," Bella said as she opened the case and the first thing that stood out to her was Myriam's note. Written in cursive. So beautiful. "Bella," she started to read out loud. "Don't read this letter out loud… oh, whatever. I managed to pull some stuff together for you to ensure your safety, but also that of others. The little angel statue, yes I'm well aware that it's ridiculous, but it's the smallest thing I could find that you'd be able to carry and hide. If it works the way it's intended, all you need to do is place it underneath your pillow or in the car and it should block the spirits." Bella gasped as she grabbed the angel and blinked as she set it down between her feet. "BUBBLE! My own personal bubble!"

"So Memphis is back on the table," Jeremy grinned. "Awesome! Elvis, here we come!"

Kol looked over to Bella and saw the relieved smile on her face, almost as if a lot of weight had been lifted, and was happy that Myriam had been able to do this for Bella. He was sure to send her some goodies from the voodoo centre that Memphis had as a thank you. Bella deserved her bubble.

Bella started to read again. "Next you'll find various satchels of herbs that you'll recognize. There's vervain; please please please don't hurt Kol with it. There's ground sage, a lot of salt, some black salt if you need to do a quick exorcism and of course, lavender. Because I know you like the smell of it and it calms you down. Now, keep the next object out of Jeremy's paws at all costs because I don't trust him," Bella flashed a grin over her shoulder to Jeremy. "Aww."

"What did I ever do to her? I mean, she's hot, yes. But I didn't do anything to her."

Bella peeked into the case and saw a familiar object, one that she did remember, somehow. "Kol, pull over," she said softly.

Kol looked at her surprised and hurriedly jerked the car off onto the shoulder of the highway. "What is wrong? What happened?" He questioned the moment he threw the gear into park.

She lifted the dagger out of the case, showing it to him and Jeremy. "This is what I saw. I remember this. I drew this over and over again to prove it was real. Why is it here? It's real?"

The vampire eyed the weapon and ground his teeth together, not believing that Myriam would actually send something that could put him down. "How could you have seen that? At the time you were a teenager, I was still in my box with that in my heart."

Jeremy stayed back as he wanted to snatch that dagger out of Bella's hand and use it on Kol. "Dude, eight years ago you guys were all out of the box and your mother had linked you all together."

"It's been that long since that?" he asked, looking to his friend. "You okay there? Any urges to kill me yet?"

"Yep."

Bella grabbed one of the little herb sacks and tossed it back into his lap. "How about now?"

"Oh, that's great, thanks," Jeremy replied. "Much better." He then scratched his head. "Uh, yeah, you guys were all linked and Alaric managed to put you down for a brief period, causing Rebekah and Finn to fall too, Klaus with merely a pain in his chest."

Bella scrunched her face as she looked over at Kol. "It's strange that I remember this. Hey, did any of you get lit on fire? Because I seem to remember fire around this thing."

"Different weapon," Jeremy explained. "A few weeks after the dagger incident, we were all armed with stakes that could put down an Original. Thinking they were still linked together, my friend Matt killed Finn, the oldest after Elijah, and his entire sireline went poof. Of course, they were no longer linked together so none of the other Originals died. Kol was stalking me in Denver at the time."

Kol pointed to the dagger in her hand. "You keep that far away from me, you hear? I'm going to murder my brother's girl when we get home."

"It's safe with me," Bella said reassuringly as she picked up the letter and continued to read. "Kol might not like this, but I've included a dagger and some ash of the White Oak Tree. I trust that you and Jeremy will do everything in your power not to have him possessed or go insane, but in case he gets overtaken or out of control - even not listening to _you_ , use this to knock him out, take him to safety and remove it again."

"So if you saw all this years ago," Jeremy started, eyeing Kol then Bella. "What if you were somehow linked then? That this whole thing between the two of you was meant to happen or you coming to their family? It's actually really weird because I should have wanted to kill you, but I don't."

"That's ridiculous," Bella huffed, burying the dagger deep into the case and moving everything over it. "How or when should that have happened then? I'm 24 years old, never ran into the Mikaelsons before New Orleans."

Kol reached over and grabbed his phone from Bella's lap and dialed his brother. It wasn't long before the hybrid answered. " _Greetings brother! How is the wide open road?"_

"First off, tell Myriam that I am going to kill her."

" _She suspected as much and she told me she'd like to see you try."_

"What the hell was she thinking? And has she found anything with Bella's blood yet?"

" _Safety for all, especially with you going to new places, but she trusts Bella's good judgement of you. And no, the spell is still ongoing, why do you ask?"_

Bella eyed Kol curiously, wondering what he was thinking. She could tell that his mind was going a million miles per second, but why?

"We've had some… developments in the car, and I will help Bella with one obstacle, but I need to know if the spell shows if Bella's messed with magically."

" _There's no indication of that,"_ Myriam's voice sounded. " _I would have sensed that from the very start. It's likely that Jeremy would have sensed that too. Is this about the connection you two seem to have?"_

"It may be larger than that… If you find anything, call us right away."

" _I told you I would,"_ Myriam sighed. " _Don't worry, Kol. I'm sure that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for what's going on between you two, and if not, well, blame it on hormones."_

"You should ask Bella's father about what he did to her and why," he said angrily.

Klaus practically grinned through the phone. " _I'll be sure to question our guest now that I know what to look for."_

"Especially what happened when she was fifteen."

" _Fifteen? Care to elaborate?"_

"Not yet…" he looked over to Bella who was basically shooting daggers at him with her eyes. "It's a delicate subject and this is the thing I'm going to help her with once we settle for the day. Or I hope, at least, it might not even be possible with the suspected damage done to her."

" _Intriguing. I shall go have a chat with Daddy Swan. Give my love to Little Bird."_

Bella scowled upon hearing her last name and the pet name Klaus had chosen for her.

" _Isabella Marie Swan, such a nice name for such a pretty lady."_

"Shut up," Bella muttered.

"Yeah, Nik? It'll likely be difficult not to hurt him, but despite Bella's anger towards her father right now, do keep him in one piece," Kol reminded his brother. "I want to be the one to kill him if it's needed."

Bella stared back at him, open mouthed. "Kol!"

Kol shrugged as he disconnected the phone call and put his phone back in Bella's lap before pointing at her suitcase. "Since you're carrying your backpack everywhere we go, I want that dagger on you at all times so that Gilbert here can't nick it."

"It is probably a good idea," Jeremy agreed. "If I forget this little satchel, I'm going to want to put him down first chance I get."

"Great," Bella said sarcastically. "We'd make a great subject for a road movie; the vampire, the vampire hunter and the medium: Where will their control issues lead them next? Find out after this commercial!"

"It'd make a fun special for YouTube," Kol grinned.

Bella thought for a moment before eyeing the angel between her feet and then smirked. "You know what? After you've sifted through my mind, I want to get drunk off my ass."

"Drunk sex is fun sex. I'm game," Kol eagerly agreed. "Let's get back on the road so that we can get there sooner."

~o.O.o~

Dropping their bags into their hotel room, Kol tossed a key card at Jeremy. There was no way he was going to share a room with the guy now. "You're next door. I'm not having you within spitting distance of my girl's bag."

"Don't worry, I completely understand," Jeremy nodded as he picked up his bag. "Good luck, you two, I hope that what you find buried will be helpful to you both. Uh, how about I go into town to get her a new phone?"

"That is a great idea, Gilbert," he said as he handed him some money. "Hey, Bella, how about an upgrade from your old iPhone? You had what? A 3?"

"Ouch," Jeremy sucked in a breath.

"It served it's purpose until my father tried tracking me," she grumbled as she put the angel underneath her pillow. "I don't need anything fancy. Really."

"Are you kidding? You can tweet your followers with pictures from new phones using the internet without wifi! You're going to be in the 21st century," Jeremy said as he looked at the money Kol had given him. "What am I going to do with the rest of the money?"

"Buy booze and snacks?"

Jeremy got the keys to the truck and left, closing the door behind him. With Kol and Bella now alone, the vampire sighed as he sat on the bed, watching her. "We will figure out everything. Knowing the truth can only make you stronger. You deserve to know the truth about your past."

"Even if it's really horrible?" She crawled towards him over the bed, still feeling safe and quiet in her bubble as she settled on his lap, her arms around his neck.

"You're with a terrifying vampire that can only be killed by one thing, and here you are within killing distance, yet, you're fearless. You're stronger than you think, Bella," he softly kissed her. "Your memories might not be all rainbows and unicorns, but that's okay. You're safe now, you'll be safe in the days to come."

Sighing, Bella toyed with the collar of his shirt as she considered what he was asking, and she was still terrified and skeptical of the entire thing. Mediums weren't unheard of to have terrifying experiences as they learned their abilities, but Kol was so convinced there was something there. Especially as they all had already acknowledged their unusual attraction to one another. "Will it hurt?"

"No," he smiled at her. "I don't expect it to hurt, but we can stop at any time if it does."

Nodding, she bit her lip. "Okay then. Let's do this and get it over with before I chicken out completely."

Kol kissed her and tugged her to the bed. "Lay down. You'll be more comfortable."

Bella did as she was told and sighed deep, trying to relax. "This good?"

"As long as you are comfortable. Close your eyes and you may feel a little intrusion, but I ask that you try not to fight my entering your mind. It can make it more difficult," he explained as he touched her forehead.

She closed her eyes and took another breath. "You should have an all access pass, everything that I am is yours," she said bravely. "I've opened the doors wide and it's still so quiet, it's so nice."

Kol took his free hand and held hers as he closed his eyes to slip inside her mind. It was easier than he anticipated despite her opening up to him. He wasn't sure what to make of what he initially saw.

It was almost as if she had a whole city inside of her head, a whole world; one side being completely in the dark and the other one in the light, some homes crumbled, some were being built. But of course, there wasn't a whole world inside of her head, just her memories.

He started walking through the scene, trying to search for the Bella he knew and for anything that might help with what had been happening in the conscious world.

Bella let out a giggle. "You're going the wrong way, stay in the light," she said as she appeared before him and hummed in appreciation of her surroundings. "And here I thought there was just a void inside my head."

"No, you're pretty organized," Kol replied appreciatively, pointing at the numbers on the houses. "I guess I'll be looking for 15 and below?"

Bella watched on as he continued to walk down the street, listening intently. "Careful, there's something there and I don't think it's nice."

"I'm here with you. Or you can wait here while I look," he offered as he turned to look at the houses again.

Bella let out a whine and followed him. "This is so weird," she said as she kept an eye on the darkness, content that it stayed on their side of the street, although she had seen it casting dark shadows over the first three houses Kol had encountered. It figured as much, she'd been in a pretty dark place because of a dark entity.

She followed him around the corner, just shy of 15, and stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing the ruins and several grey wolves growling at them, seemingly protecting the street. They didn't look particularly friendly.

"Hm," Kol hummed. "Come now doggies. We're not here to hurt anything. Just an exploratory journey for Bella," he tried to calm the wolves, who were essentially a piece of Bella.

The wolves slowly parted, but didn't move otherwise to let a small figure through. It was a younger version of Bella, and she looked slightly confused. "I've seen you," she said, almost in a dream state. "Many times."

"Trippy," Bella said from beside Kol.

"No kidding," he replied, staring at the girl. "You were adorable though!"

"You were asleep for so long and then you woke up," Young Bella said, not taking her eyes off of Kol. "And got stabbed and then when I was inside, you were on fire but I felt it."

He nodded confirming her story and that he understood. "We are trying to find out how or why you saw my family and I? And where you are from."

The wolves growled as young Bella shook her head. "No, we're not supposed to see things," she said agitated. "Or hear things or be different. I'm a freak and fixing me is hard."

"That's what the humans made you think, Bella. We aren't normal and it's okay not to be normal. They don't understand creatures like us, beings that are different. You know so much but they were wrong for what they did," he pressed gently.

The wolves ran off into the darkness, chasing something as something stirred there, leaving young Bella alone and vulnerable, looking like a scared little child.

"Where do you want me to go? Where do I need to go?"

"Fifteen," she replied, looking at older Bella. "It's not pretty, but maybe we can be whole again so we're stronger to fight that," she said as she pointed to the darkness. "Fifteen and you'll see what you did to make everyone happy."

Nodding, Kol took his Bella's hand and they slowly made their way down the street until they reached house number fifteen. From the outside, it appeared rather non descript. A typical small house. "I was expecting something - more."

Bella was quiet as she stood behind him, not particularly wanting to go forward. "We don't need to do this…"

"Come now Bella. We are so close and this will give some answers. I'll go by myself and tell you what I see?"

She thought for a moment. "No, I'm safe with you. Little me was right, if this is the state of my head, my memories, I need to know how and why so I can fix it." Bella took a few steps forward and swung the door open, her screams coming out to greet them. "See? I'm the life of the party."

"That you are," Kol held her close as they pushed through the dark entrance only to find themselves somewhere he didn't particularly care for. "Well, this is strange considering you were never here."

"What is this place?" Bella asked as she looked up to him.

"Klaus' place in Virginia when I was undaggered. But why?"

She heard some voices coming from the next room and pulled him along with her, stopping dead in the doorway. Klaus, Kol, Elijah and likely Rebekah were sitting in the living room, actually laughing and being normal siblings. "Oh, I remember this, I thought that it would be so great to have a big family to talk to and have fun with."

Kol watched the scene with mixed feelings. "Let's look around some more?" He worded it like a question but he did not want to watch that scene as he knew it eventually led to more hurt for himself and his siblings.

Starting up the stairs, he looked around hearing music playing downstairs and remembered the night of the ball his mother hosted. "Witches…" he murmured, heading for the room his mother had locked herself in frequently.

Opening the door, instead of a room, he found himself outside in the woods behind the house he grew up in. "Now this is just wrong."

"Oh, my forest!" Bella smiled, remembering now. "I retreated here whenever I was lonely up until… yeah, until I was fifteen. Playing with other kids," she smiled as she pointed at a young boy coming out of the bushes. "Like him!"

He smiled, taking her hand. "Is that so? Did you play chase?"

"No," she smirked as she pointed at him. "He liked to show me magic tricks whenever I was sad. Made dead leaves fly around me or ordered starlings to spell my name in the sky," Bella saw as the boy started to grow older. "He grew older with me. I don't know why but I kept coming back here. And-" she then blinked as she saw the boy as a fifteen year old and looked over at Kol, the resemblance now clear to her. "That's you! How? Why?"

"I don't know. I don't recall much before we were changed. I spent time right behind our land but I don't remember a girl, you," he said, looking around. "It was a few years from then that we lost my brother and mother created the spell and potion for vampires."

"But this place is real? It's not a part of my imagination?"

"Very real. It is where Mystic Falls was established. Only a thousand years before. Let's go look in my family's building."

The house started to shake and wobble before everything changed, Bella in her bed, screaming that she was being stabbed, clawing at her chest as tears fell down her eyes. Her concerned parents and a doctor who believed she had a mental break. The scenery changed again and now it was Bella in the mental hospital, still sobbing as she sat in a corner. "No, turn it back!" Bella screamed at the house.

"Wait," Kol held her, staring intently at the staff around here. "What in the world is she doing in Washington? That nurse," he pointed at her. "She's no nurse, that's my mother!"

"I wasn't in an institution in Washington," Bella replied with a sigh. "It was somewhere in Virginia, per recommendation of the army of shrinks who assessed me, they believed that being away from my parents while I 'recovered' would do me some good."

"Why would your mother be interested in me?" She whispered, knowing the stories of the evil woman who wanted to kill her children.

"My mother spent a thousand years on the Other Side before she was released like the rest of us," Kol sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's very likely that she picked something up on that side about you."

"I didn't like her but she also felt like she was my mother at times. I wondered why she would do what she was doing to me there," Bella admitted.

"What did she do?" Even more reasons to hate his mother, likely.

Hesitating, she looked away. "She tried to talk to me about killing her family in the future. I ignored her as if she wasn't there."

"Oh, that's something she'd do alright," he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "What happened?"

"Well, eventually she realized I wasn't going to budge, no matter how drugged up I was and she left, I didn't see her again. But while I was here, I felt as if I was on fire at some point, I was physically burning up and they dunked me in an ice bath to cool me off, afraid I had some dangerous infection or something," she sighed. "And then they pulled me out and shocked me because my heart stopped from the shock."

Kol scowled. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," Bella whispered as the scene changed again, rapidly this time showing flashes of shock therapy, Kol raging on the Other Side, drugs, isolation and eventually how she was released back into her parent's custody, images of the wolves outside showing up next, biting her whenever she slipped back into seeing things. "I've had enough for now," she said as she looked up to him. "Can we stop for today? Maybe go through the other years some other day?"

While he wanted to continue to find out why she had been so connected to his family, he nodded and leaned in to kiss her. The next moment they were back in the hotel room.

It was as if her head had been hit by a wrecking ball and smashed some wall to pieces as the memories of the institute came back to her and she crawled against him to try to make it stop, or at least ride out the waves. "It wasn't just you and the family that I saw over the years," Bella said with a whimper. "I do believe I saw the dead, too."

"You might not have been ready for your gifts yet. We'll help you control them. There is no one better than me!" He kissed her and helped her up.

"You're the best," Bella smiled at him. "Sorry I'm such a basket case, you can trade me in for a different model if you want to, no hard feelings."

"As if," Kol grinned as he helped her to her feet. "Come on, let's walk it off and get a little bit of fresh air outside."


	12. Chapter 11

Kol was so glad to see Bella's relief on her face when the angel statue that Myriam had spelled for her was actually able to work on her without placing it on some object first, and at dinner, she was relaxed, the way that he knew her to be. Jeremy was setting up her new phone for her while they waited for their food and they were talking about what they wanted to see now that Bella no longer had to avoid 'difficult' places.

They spent two whole days in Memphis as three ordinary people, doing touristy stuff without having to worry about anything and despite what Bella had said about getting drunk off her ass, Kol was slightly disappointed that he yet had to see her do that. At night, when Bella was asleep, he went for a quick bite out on the street before joining her in bed.

Kol was also itching to delve deeper into Bella's mind, but he could tell that she was still reeling from the previous experience and didn't press for another session. The information he had received from Klaus, who pulled it out of Charlie, seemed to match up with Bella's repressed memories, but Klaus wasn't done with Chief Swan yet. Staying true to his word of not breaking him, he had to show immense restraint and patience.

He didn't tell Nik just yet what they had discovered in Bella's mind, because in all honesty, it was unexplainable, especially with Bella seeing him - and likely the rest of the family - as much younger.

Kol was going to have to talk to Bella about the little angel statue that she now seemed to cling onto for dear life wherever they went. While yes, it was great for her to be able to function _normally_ without embarrassing anyone, it wasn't her. It just wasn't. It was as if she was deliberately shutting a part of herself down, as if she was ashamed of it, and that had to stop. It was fine to have it in the car or in the hotel room for her own rest, but this extended mental vacation wasn't good. Nobody knew, not even Myriam, what prolonged exposure could do to her.

She was in control of the blasted dagger, he was going to see if she was going to let him have control over the angel statue. It was only fair, she had given Jeremy control over her phone and emails and social media accounts. Granted, her viewers seemed to like the pictures Jeremy was uploading, seeing Bella with a big smile on her face.

His favourite picture so far was Bella licking an ice cream as she balanced on a line of bricks, looking like she didn't have a care in the world.

They were in the car heading north again, listening to some music on the car radio when Jeremy spoke up. "So, this sounds interesting," he said as he was looking on Bella's phone. "There's this huge mansion in Chicago, ah, at a forest preservation that's one of the oldest buildings in Chicago. Built in the 1850's by-"

"The Cullens?" Bella guessed as dread rolled up in her stomach and made it its home.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"How do you not know about the Cullen Mansion? It housed a lot of people in its time, there have been rituals and other creepy things and it's haunted as fuck," she shook her head. "The ground it's built upon was once owned by the Native Americans and there used to be a river flowing through the preservation but the Cullens didn't want it, so they got rid of it. Very powerful family at that time."

"Cool, so we're going?"

"No! Absolutely not! Didn't you see Spooky Investigations with Drew, Jace and Hugo when they went in for their 12 hours? Someone got possessed, Hugo got seriously hurt and they were all scratched and named. There were mimicked voices, shadows… their equipment continued to fail and freeze up. No, we're not going there. It's a fucking warzone."

"Bella," Kol said with a smile on his face. "You have such a lovely potty mouth when you're passionate or dispassionate about something, but you do need to stop or I'll have to pull us over and take you on the hood of our car."

Bella huffed as she snatched her phone out of Jeremy's paws and dialed a number she had memorized and put it on speaker once it connected. " _Drew Clarke."_

"Hey Drew, it's Bella, sorry for the strange number."

" _Hey! How are you doing?"_

"Doing much better, thanks," Bella smiled. "Can I ask you something?"

" _Of course… Wait is this the moment where you're going to ask if you can get on our show?"_

"That will never happen."

" _But… science!"_

"I'm not a science project," she retorted before sighing. "Hey, you guys have been to the Cullen House, right?"

" _Yes, the evidence we gathered was quite impressive, but it's definitely not a place we'd like to return. Then again, we say that about many places and are stupid enough to return… but that's who we are. Stupid."_

"Okay, so," Bella said as she pulled up the email Jeremy was reading before. "I received an email from Edward Cullen, one of the descendants, asking if I wanted to come and explore the Cullen Estate for my videos."

Drew's first reaction was " _Oh, God, yes!"_ But he soon calmed down and cleared his throat. " _That property scared the shit out of three dudes, like… we experienced its after effects for a very long time, too, nightmares and stuff. We knew what we were up against, we knew that it was going to be a bad idea to go there, but we went anyway and we regret it. Immensely. While I'd love to see how you'd fare in there, please don't. I don't want that place to ruin you."_

"I'm not afraid," Jeremy said as he bounced in the backseat. "And I doubt neither is Kol. All places have the added danger for dark entities and shit hitting the fan, especially unknown locations such as the Cullen House. Are we going to avoid going off the beaten path? Play things safe?"

Kol didn't say anything, because Jeremy was right. However, Bella's safety greatly concerned him and he knew that she knew that, too.

" _I know you're running with the new guys, Bella, I saw your latest video and damn, some great EVP's there, but I don't think they're up for the Cullen Property just yet."_

"Oh, you have no idea what they're capable of," Bella said, a small smile dancing across her lips as she looked at Kol. "We'll be fine." Drew told her not to go, confirming her fears, maybe it was better to confront them. Besides, Kol was a vampire and Jeremy a hunter, it wasn't as if they were ordinary folk like Drew and his buddies.

" _Bella, for fuck's sake, you're highly sensitive. That place will ruin you, even Astaria isn't willing to go to that place."_

"And I'm not Astaria. I'm not bound by little rules in contracts of TV companies either. I don't like the idea of going there, especially after some recent developments, but while you guys took the property's investigation virginity, I want to be second - I hardly come across locations that haven't been trampled by you loudmouths again and again."

" _And you're right about that, because you don't have a whole company behind you… Fine. I'm in Idaho on a business trip anyway. I'm coming with. I will not hear no for an answer. I mean it, you're like a little sister to me and I don't want you to get hurt."_

"But-"

" _No. I'm coming with or I'm going to send Edward an email to turn you away or ask him to call the cops on you for trespassing."_

"What else is new," Bella muttered, shaking her head and looking at her boys. "Well? Room for one more if he adheres to our rules?"

Kol knew that Bella would have fought harder against this guy's insistence of joining them at the property if his energy wasn't right. If he wasn't a good guy or didn't know what he was doing. And with the guy saying that Bella was like a little sister to him, made him very curious to this Drew Clarke indeed. "Fine by me, darling," Kol said, keeping his eyes on the road. "I'd love to meet one of your friends in the field." It wasn't as if he couldn't erase or modify the guy's memory afterwards anyway.

"It's likely we'll do it like… the day after tomorrow, think you can make it up in that time?"

" _Definitely. I'll call you when I'm in the area. This is great, I finally get to see you work up close!"_

"I am not a science project!"

" _Of course not. I'll bring my own gear but all the footage is yours."_

"Good. Thank you. I appreciate that, talk to you later," she said as she hung up and handed the phone to Jeremy. "Go ahead, tell this Edward that we're coming."

"Awesome!" Jeremy grinned. "Now, see, we're finally going to do something creepy."

"Can't believe we're going to do this," Bella said after a few quiet minutes of staring out of the car window. "I must be really losing my mind."

"We don't have to," Kol took her hand and gently squeezed it. "If you really don't want to, we're not going to do it." He didn't scare easily, the dead were dead and sure, they could do terrible things, but it was nothing compared to what he'd already gone through in the past. This was all about Bella and her own fear.

"No, we're doing it," she smiled at him, bravely, before getting the angel out of her pocket and handed it to Jeremy with a sigh. "Between what we saw in my mind, the experience we had in the Sanatorium… who knows? Maybe going to hell is what I need to gain full control over everything and not to have it still humming in the back of my head."

"Why are you giving me this?" Jeremy said, confused. "This is yours."

"Yeah, it's my safety blanket. Give that back to me when we get to the hotel. Holiday's over for this girl."

Kol hoped that it had been just that; a holiday. Granted, it must have been nice for her to walk around somewhere without being disturbed all the time - for him everything around him had become white noise over the years, but she had people trying to get her attention all the time and that was something that was a lot harder to deal with. He had to laugh when he saw the pensive look on Bella's face. "You're already thinking about what could possibly go wrong, aren't you?"

"No," Bella said lightly as she looked at him. "It's best to forget what you know and go in anyway as buildings may surprise you. However, we may have to arrange some vervain for Drew. Just in case you do get taken over or jumped, I want to be sure that Drew can't be compelled to do weird shit."

Kol hummed, slightly bummed by the suggestion, but he could understand where Bella came from. "That won't happen."

"No, but it could. I know you're mentally very strong so it'd take someone or something strong to break your mental barriers, but just in case."

He would love to see that happen, if only for the rush. Kol thought for a moment and then smirked. "Fine, but we're going to get you a dog leash. Retractable."

"What!"

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Jeremy laughed. "Because you wandered off in the Sanatorium, and that's not good."

"You just weren't paying any attention."

"No! We were talking about the bloody beam that nearly impaled me!" Kol retorted. "No, you're going to be leashed. We'll attach it to your pants, don't worry, nothing kinky," he then winked at her. "You want to protect the human from me, I'm in charge of your safety and thus I want to protect you from yourself and things that go bump in the night."

"Hey, you give some, you lose some," Jeremy snorted. "It's a great idea for your safety. We should just implement that for like… everything we go to."

"Nik and Rebekah spent some time in Chicago in the 1920's," Kol said as he kept his eyes on the road. "Apparently they had a great time there before they had to continue to run from Mikael. Hey, who knows? Their old haunt might still be around."

"Oh, I'm not willing to encounter anymore of your brother's skidmarks, thanks," Bella shook her head as she pulled her feet up in the seat.

"Bella, please call them residual hauntings," Kol whined. "They're not skidmarks, that's just really unsettling."

"Skid marks!"

"No."

"I'm putting this on twitter," Jeremy laughed as he started to type. "Question of the day: We encountered something the other day (but not recorded) that some call Residual Hauntings. Bella calls them skidmarks. What sounds better?"

Kol grumbled as his hands tightened their grip on the steering wheel. "Sounds like someone that shit their pants…"

"Which we'll likely do at the Cullen House," Bella stuck out her tongue to him.

"Not me. My father is dead. Nothing else could scare me that bad since the only thing that can kill me is in Klaus' possession in New Orleans."

"Nor me," Jeremy shrugged. "I mean, I've seen a lot of crazy shit."

Bella grumbled. "Still, I'm going to pack a clean pair of pants, just in case."

When they came to Chicago, Kol made sure Jeremy had a room at the opposite side of the hotel and quickly ushered Bella into their room. Not even allowing her to unpack, he pushed the angel statue underneath a pillow and pulled her onto the bed with him, pinning her down underneath him. "So."

"What are you doing?" Bella let out a snort as she looked at his face, searching for answers.

"Was that Drew guy right about the house?"

"Yes - but in his defense, they do things scientifically and they might have just upset the house and then spread rumors that the place is terribly haunted," she shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I won't know how bad the house actually is until I've been there. And it's still fresh, mostly untainted by paranormal investigators or wannabe's. It'll be exciting."

"Will you be in any danger?"

She pulled him down for a kiss. "I'm always in danger when I do these things, but I'll be fine. I've got you, and we've got Jeremy. I can stay scared and not do these kinds of things, or I could just do it and be scared afterwards."

"Okay, good," Kol smiled at her, got off the bed and started to unpack. "I choose this hotel for us because it's new and it has all the facilities one might need," he then tossed her bikini into her face. "Like a swimming pool."

"Why would I want to swim?"

"Relaxation," Kol winked at her. "Until we're going to that house, I'm going to do my best to make sure you're well rested and absolutely relaxed." He then grinned as he pulled out his red shorts. "And you can bask in the glory that is my body."

"Gah," Bella sighed as she fell back onto the bed. "Your body? That's it? You won't be present? Well then… I guess it'll have to do… I could use your body as a floatation device."

~o.O.o~

According to Jeremy, who had contact with Edward Masen-Cullen via email and over the phone, Edward had been very specific about when they were allowed to go and investigate. As it so happened, it was going to be a full moon the night they were invited over.

Bella was glad that her boys seemed to get along with Drew, who they met the day before over dinner. Even Kol behaved, likely because Drew was married and eagerly showed off his wife and kids on a picture he kept on him at all times. Drew playfully warned them about peculiar Edward, but nothing could have prepared her for the experience of actually meeting him. Nothing.

Edward was blatantly flirting with her all the time, despite Bella asking him to stop repeatedly. Jeremy had to pull Kol away several times because Bella could tell that Kol wanted to kill the guy. Edward was telling them more about the house; how it had been abandoned for years, that he'd never been interested in the house to live in because that particular generation of his family was quite _eccentric_ and it was in the middle of nowhere.

He hated the chalk and graffiti inside the house, it had obviously been found by squatters and homeless people during the time the house belonged to his grandfather and father. He did seem genuine when he wanted to uncover the property's mysteries before demolishing it and that that was the reason why he was sending requests to paranormal investigators to come and check the house out.

When Drew told him that he was freaking nuts and wanted people to die in the house, Edward merely impishly smiled and asked Bella how long she was going to be inside the house and boundaries. Bella replied that it would likely be just a few hours, not overnight like Drew had done, it all depended on if the spirits were cooperative or not, or even if there were spirits at all.

Edward's flirting got to a point where Bella reached her point of annoyance and then blurted that he needed to stop because she and Kol were married and that even though they weren't wearing wedding rings, it didn't mean that they weren't committed to each other and happy. She then marched off towards the gate and froze the moment she set foot onto the property.

"Ah, that's our cue," Jeremy grinned as he grabbed the bags and pushed Kol towards his girl.

Kol handed Bella her recorder with a sly smirk on his lips. "So...when did this wedding take place, Darling? Perhaps in Memphis, with Elvis as a witness? And we are honeymooning with the Cullen ancestors?"

"I had to say something," she muttered. "I would have snapped his neck myself if that had continued on for longer."

"You get no argument from me. I am still more than happy to drain him dry. We can make a sock puppet out of him for whomever is left behind here to play with."

Bella huffed as she felt how Kol secured the leash through a loop on her pants, but she was still frozen in place almost as if she was listening to something. "Alright, get this party rolling," she eventually said as she managed to turn around and looked at Jeremy, Drew and Kol. "Are you three ready?"

"Sure wifey. Let's party," Kol grinned, winking at her.

"No rings, but a leash, kinky," Drew snorted as he turned on his camera.

"She tends to take off without warning, now she can't stray more than two metres ahead, much more secure that way," Jeremy laughed as he switched on his camera. "Alright, you're good to go for the intro, doggie!"

"Ruff!" Bella barked back at his camera. "I'll set Kol's brother after you when we get home."

"Ha!" Jeremy let out a snort.

Bella barked again before she playfully smiled at the camera. "Guess where we are?" She thumbed over her shoulder and Jeremy briefly panned to the house before focusing back on her. "According to the guys from Spooky Investigations this is yet another portal to hell and I was actually told not to go out here by myself, with Kol and Jeremy. So…" She grabbed Drew and pulled him into the frame. "Drew Clarke himself is joining us, ready to shit his pants all over again," she grinned as she carefully pushed a petal of vervain in his jeans pocket. "Did you bring a spare?"

"I'm wearing brown pants, I'm good," he winked at her before starting towards the house. "You guys coming or what?"

"We're actually standing on what used to be Native American ground, their energy is still in the soil," Bella said as she turned around again, although still not having moved a muscle. "I'm still trying to convince them to let me pass to the house."

Kol panned his camera around the area until it landed on her. "What's the problem?"

"Us," she mouthed as she gestured to the three of them.

He rolled his eyes at what she implied. "Mother strikes again," he muttered to himself.

"They don't like the house or what's inside and they want it gone."

"I'd love to help if I could," Kol spoke. "Best I could help is with the annoying property owner…"

"It's alright," Bella said as she took a step, a smile on her face before continuing to move. "I convinced them that we won't do any harm."

"Easy for you to say. I still want to wring that tosser's neck for his treatment of you."

"Yeah, it looked like he wanted you as a trophy or something," Jeremy shuddered as he followed them. "Bella the Trophy wife."

"Oh, don't start, Jeremy," Bella caught up with Drew and walked passed him before she was being pulled back through the leash.

"Easy, tiger," Drew winked at her, releasing the leash before turning to Kol. "Oh, you're right, this is awesome."

"I know," Kol laughed.

"Bella, you're in charge here. You made it very clear to me that before you enter the house, you want to make sure we all have a bright white light inside of us, so let's take a moment for us to visualize that."

"See, still not convinced if that helps or not," Jeremy sighed as he closed his eyes. "Done."

Kol stood there with a peculiar smile, peeking one eye open. "Oh I definitely thought of my bright light. Hmm only it was hard to imagine it in me, but the next best thing!"

"Do enough of these and who knows? The bright light might burn away the darkness that is the pit of your soul," Jeremy grinned and ruffled Bella's hair.

Kol looked over at him and growled, warning him away from Bella. He was still feeling rather possessive after the situation with Edward Cullen and wanting to rip his friend apart with a third party present would not make good video.

"Woah, was that a growl?" Drew swung his camera around, looking around in shock. "It sounded so close!"

"Uh," Jeremy glanced towards Kol and stepped away from Bella. "It sounded like it echoed off the tree…" Total bullshit.

Drew just looked at him with an incredulous look on his face. "Buddy, I've been doing this for a lot longer than you have. Echoes don't sound like that. If it wasn't a growl, who forgot to eat today?"

Bella and Kol intentionally looked at Jeremy on that cue.

"Sorry," Jeremy muttered, looking down to his feet for emphasis, but he was so going to kick Kol's ass later.

"Alrighty, let's do this," Bella said as she opened the door to the mansion. "To anyone who still resides in this house; my name is Bella and you've already met Drew. Kol and Jeremy are here too. We're not here to hurt you or to remove you from the property, we're merely curious."

"This is getting old," Kol said as he pushed passed her and stood in the middle of the grand entrance, the house reminding him a lot of how Nik and Elijah would decorate it. Grand staircase, weird paintings, the works. "Did they hire my brothers to design this place or something?"

"Oh, I sure hope that your brothers didn't have anything to do with this," Bella muttered as she followed him in. "Hate skidmarks."

Drew turned to look at her his mouth hanging open. "Skidmark? What the fuck is a skidmark?"

Kol and Jeremy replied simultaneously. "Don't ask!"

"Well, you know, when you poop your pants or forget to wipe…" Jeremy started to clarify, trailing off.

"Bella's term for residual haunts. She came across something traumatic of my brother's history as a child and it disturbed her."

"It's…. Certainly an interesting choice of words," Drew smirked. "I like it."

"You can use it with Jace," Bella offered with a pretty smile as she looked around.

Drew was a little skeptical by her expression. "I dunno if I should be afraid of that." After a moment of silence, he spoke up again. "We had most of our activity on the second and third floors, even equipment failure. It's pretty quiet down here, I don't know why, but we hardly got anything."

"Oh, there's plenty down here," Bella said as she headed towards the staircase, feeling enough energies around them to make her wonder why they were so quiet, even attempts to make light conversation with them didn't work. "They're just not particularly interested in talking."

'Stop.' A voice sounded when she was halfway up the stairs, quickly feeling Kol's body behind her as she stopped dead in her tracks. 'This house is no place for you, Miss Bella, turn around and leave.'

^leave^

"You have the Ovilus on all the time?" Drew asked from behind them. "Why?"

"Because we'd like to know when someone's talking, too," Jeremy told him. "In real time. It's likely the voice recorder won't pick up anything. We still have to use our other toy, the Wonder Box."

"I brought mine too, so that's going to be awesome when we split up."

"And we're not leaving, whoever you are. Bella wants to tell your stories," Jeremy added.

A full bodied and detailed apparition of a male looking like a soldier appeared before them on the stairs for a good five seconds, illuminating the area around them and causing all four of them to gasp in shock, Jeremy immediately rewinding his camera to see if he caught it to look at it again. "Holy shit."

'I drew energy from your vampire companion to give you what you want, now leave.'

^leave^

"But that's not what we came here for," Bella said, ignoring Drew's amazement and excitement as she took a step back to gently collide with Kol, making sure he was alright. "And next time you should ask if it's alright to borrow someone's energy because you're not able to return it," she said a little bit angrily.

It was a good thing that Kol had overfed before they had left the hotel to come to this place. He had felt the ghost pulling energy from him, but it was just enough to manifest, not to weaken him. "I'm alright," Kol assured her. Besides, he knew that Bella had a thermos of blood in her bag in case of emergency and he could always drink from her - of course, out of Jeremy's sight.

'Even we don't go up there, why would I allow you to go up there? You need to stay safe.' He felt as if he was protective of something, or wanted to keep a secret. Bella didn't like him very much, especially after the energy zap from Kol.

^restricted^

"So, apparently, everything that's upstairs is off limits to the ghosts downstairs, interesting," Bella said as she gently rubbed Kol's arm. "This spirit doesn't want us to go up." She took a deep breath and continued to walk the stairs. "Let's go, I don't believe him."

"Look at you, being all brave," Jeremy laughed. "What's gotten into you?"

"I'm the only girl, I can't be the scared one," Bella said as she kept going up the stairs, ignoring the spirit's voice yelling in her ear to stop. "I've got balls, just like you guys… and I'm certainly not allowing some spirit to tell me not to go somewhere. I'd have to be physically stopped first."

She turned on her flashlight upon reaching the top of the stairs and looked around. It didn't look as preserved as downstairs with parts of the floor missing or parts of walls, making the whole level look creepy. The energy felt different too, and there was electricity bubbling underneath her skin. "Wow."

"You guys feel that?" Jeremy said as he followed behind them. "This is insane!"

"Yeah, it made our equipment fail when we were here, kept having to change the batteries out," Drew replied as Bella could hear him move a little, checking his equipment. "Seems okay now, though."

Kol was unusually quiet, which disturbed Bella a little bit, it was too early for him to shut down like this. "Hey, Jer? Why won't you and Drew go to the right, Kol and I go the other way, we'll meet back here after we've circled around?"

"Fun! Call if you need anything," Jeremy said as he pulled Drew with him like an excited puppy.

Bella turned around and shone her flashlight in Kol's face. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yes," Kol replied and softly kissed her. "Merely keeping an eye and ear out for things. I don't like this place."

Bella hummed for an answer as she softly caressed his cheek before turning around again. "Maybe we can have Jer and Drew stay up here and take the third floor as well, and we go downstairs where it's a bit quieter once we're done here? Would that make you feel more comfortable?"

"I think you'd feel a lot more comfortable there too," Kol snickered as he playfully pushed her ahead of him. "Go on then, my little ghost buster," he said, smacking her behind.

Bella let out a snort as she found the first room with her flashlight and switched it off, making her way to it in the dark. "Up here it feels like a suffocating blanket of some sort. Dark, the stuff of nightmares… There are definitely some 'live' energies here, but nobody's talking."

She used the wall to get to another room, keeping an ear out for anything happening but it was simply too quiet, and that was suspicious. She could hear Drew and Jeremy talk and goof off on the other side of the hallway, but they were moving away from them and their voices fading.

"You sure about that?" Kol said as he pointed his camera into a room. "I heard some growling coming from inside the room," he took a few steps to the side and passed Bella, going in first, which had been the biggest mistake so far - before he knew it he was being pushed back against a wall further into the room, dragging Bella with him as she was connected to him on the leash; he managed to pull her safely into his arms before he connected with the wall with a loud bang, causing the whole house to shake. "You okay?"

Bella nodded as she shone her flashlight around in the room - shocked at what just had happened. Whatever it was, it was powerful, very powerful and it did not feel right in that room. Maybe she was getting a little scared now, and was glad to be in Kol's arms. "What the hell was that?"

Her flashlight flashed over what looked like a drawing on the wall, and when she focused on it, she knew what had happened. She hadn't seen anything like this herself, but she had heard people talk about it. This was a portal - created by humans - and it likely connected to a different part of the house according to the scribblings on the wall, or, in the worst case, connected to hell itself. "Who would do such a thing like that?!" Bella blurted out before blinking when Jeremy and Drew appeared, flashlights in hand, scared looks on their faces.

"What happened?" Jeremy asked worried. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine," Kol said, clearly very angry, getting to his feet after helping Bella up and pointed at the portal. "That needs to be closed. We should have brought a witch."

"Oh, Ric and Bonnie could visit this place."

"Yes!" Kol smirked. "And we'll not tell them anything!"

"You were just thrown across the room and you're joking about it?" Drew said confused. "We need to get the hell out man."

Bella stepped closer to the portal, seeing the light around it becoming brighter as she approached it. It was scary to even look at it, especially when she considered that a powerful being had come through it to send Kol flying and that same being exiting the room through that same portal. It was highly unnerving and yet, she couldn't help but being drawn to it.

She couldn't hear the voices of her friends as there was so much noise coming out of the hole, and the tugging on her leash didn't interest her at all. Putting her hand on the wall close to the portal, she could feel a burning sensation, but yet, it didn't hurt her.

"Listen up, you assholes," she spoke addressing the voices. "This portal and every portal connected to it will be closed forever when I remove my hand. When it does, you will burn in God's heavenly light on your way back to where you came from. Your time here is done. For every dark spirit residing outside the portal and able to hear me; as long as you play nice, we'll play nice. No more throwing people around!"

What the hell was she doing? Kol couldn't help but having to follow Bella as she seemed unfazed by his pulling, almost as if she had anchored herself to the floor. He didn't like this one bit. Granted, he had seen the light aura that the portal was giving off, but he had hoped that his Bella would stay away from it.

When Bella removed her hand from the wall, she was knocked back by a force, stumbling right into Kol as the aura disappeared. Bella looked at Kol with a confused look on her face. She knew what just happened but she couldn't believe it. "What just happened?"


	13. Chapter 12

"I think you closed a series of portals, darling," Kol didn't know whether to be proud, scared or impressed. Perhaps he was all three. "Don't worry, I think your friend only saw you space out for a while and mutter something stupid," he kissed the top of her head.

"I- jeez, Bella," Drew said, pulling both Kol and Bella out of that room. "You two really need to watch what you're doing, I mean… I've never seen this much happening in my entire career!"

"Yeah, we're likely not going to use our flying lessons," Bella said as she started to check Kol over for any cuts or bruises. Granted, they would have healed immediately, but this also gave her the chance to see if he needed something to drink to get his energy levels back up. "Otherwise people might flock here and do more stupid stuff." Satisfied with how Kol was, she smiled at Drew and Jeremy. "Did you guys see or hear anything before you came running towards us?"

"A whole lot of darkness," Jeremy shrugged. "It's almost as if this house is slowly waking up and amping itself up for more, it's going to be fun."

"Careful Gilbert, I doubt Bella will forgive you if something happened to her friend here," Kol warned him.

"Don't worry, the first sign of trouble, I'll get him out," he grinned as he pat Drew's shoulder. "Come on, man, let's see if we can finish our corridor."

Once Kol was sure Jeremy and Drew were out of earshot, he wrapped an arm around Bella as they continued to walk. "What do you think happened in there?" He said in a low voice.

"I don't know," she whispered back. "I just felt that I could do that and… that's scary, because I could feel the darkness inside the portal and… I closed it. At least I think I did. I mean, it disappeared, didn't it?"

"It's certainly interesting," Kol gently nudged her forward. "Be careful next time, alright? I don't mind things happening to me, but I don't want you to get hurt. Try not to allow them to space you out."

"Yeah," Bella let out her breath as she shone her flash light around. "You know, this whole wall of glass, windows, looking outside, must look so beautiful during the day. In the middle of the woods, imagine all the animals you could see. I mean, a big house is nothing for me, but..."

"You're such a romantic," Kol laughed. "Want to buy a dog next?"

"Oh, great idea!"

"No," Kol shook his head. "We're not raising a dog in the middle of New Orleans, besides, we already have Nik."

"I don't want to have a dog. I want to spend all my time with you," she smiled as she peeked into a room where she heard coming out of. "Don't be afraid, we're not here to hurt you," Bella said kindly, moving further into the room.

^fine^

The energy felt kind, good, which was strange as so far, she'd encountered darkness. "What's your name?"

'Rosalie.'

"Is this your room, Rosalie?" Bella shone the light around, unlike some of the other rooms, this room still had furniture in it. There was a broken bed, a desk and an old chair. "I'm jealous of your view when you step outside."

^pretty^

"Aren't you afraid to be here?"

'Carlisle and Emmett are more frightening. They are downstairs.'

"Did they hurt you?"

'Not since I decided to hide out here.'

^safe^ ^here^

"I don't think it's safe, sweetheart," Kol spoke up after hearing the Ovilus speak. "Not here, anyway."

'Why are you hanging around with the tainted? You're beautiful and he's… so dark.'

Bella let out a snort. "Let's not go there, Rosalie," she replied to the spirit. "What can you tell me about this house, your family?"

'I can't. It's not safe. Not for any of us. You or the tainted. You need to leave.'

^leave^

"Alright, we'll go out of your room, thank you for speaking to us."

'No, leave this house.'

Bella decided to ignore her and followed Kol out. The rest of the hallway was quiet, perhaps too quiet. If Jeremy and Drew decided to stay up here, they might get some action anyway. This place wasn't like the sanatorium. The sanatorium felt insane. This house felt dark and secretive and something inside of her told her to stay put and continue. She would have been scared before, but she was with Kol, and therefore, she wasn't scared at all. There was something there meant for her to find.

They met up with Drew and Jeremy after their half circles and divided and conquered. Drew and Jeremy stayed upstairs and were going to have fun with the wonder box, while Bella and Kol were going downstairs. Bella turned to Kol's camera and smiled. "This is going to be fun. I wonder what the boys come up with by themselves."

"I'm surprised you're not scared yet," Kol laughed. "I mean, look what we've already felt and encountered."

"I've got you," she smiled at him. "I'm literally tied to you. How can I be scared?"

"You're up to something."

"I might be," she replied as she started to walk down the stairs, using her flashlight to guide her way. "I mean, the longer we stay here and get actual conversations and stuff, the more we have for the channel and the longer we don't have to go somewhere spooky and enjoy ourselves."

"Yes, but I think you're being a little bit irresponsible here… I mean, it's a good thing that I can take a punch but…" No, he wasn't scared. He was worried. For her. This house could kill, at least the 2nd floor could. It was likely he had to compel Drew by the end of all of this, too. There was no way that a human could survive being smacked against a wall that hard without any pain. Or Bella seemingly closing that portal. What had been up with that anyway? Was it part of her evolving abilities? It also took every inch of his self control not to get angry, to lash out, or to pick her up and run her out of the house.

"Don't worry, Drew said that the ground floor was a lot quieter than the upstairs levels, what could possibly happen down here?"

"Uh, everything?" Kol laughed, shaking his head. "I admire your bravery, Bella, I love your bravery and your self-confidence in this part of your world, but it's kinda scaring me. It's like you don't see the dangers lurking here."

"I do," she said bravely. "But showing fear only put more fuel on the fire for them to pelt with."

'Did you learn your lesson, Miss Bella?' the voice of the ghost they had encountered before and had sucked some of Kol's energy to manifest sounded. 'Will you leave now?'

^Bella^

"Ah, great, the ghost knows your name," Kol sighed.

"He called me Bella before," she dismissed it with a shrug.

"Yeah, but not through the Ovilus, so I can hear. Who is this guy? The one who stole my energy and showed himself to us?"

"Yep."

"That was so not done," Kol said angrily. "If you'd asked nicely, I would have gladly given you some of my energy but no, you're a ghost, you can do whatever the hell you want."

"Kol."

'And you're a vampire who takes blood from anyone you want, what's your problem?'

^problem^

"Oh, hell yeah, I have a problem with you."

Bella sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Fine, since you're so talkative, what's your name? You know mine, so…"

'Jasper, ma'am,' he replied. 'I died a few days after returning home from WWI, my Father used a proxy to marry me to Alice Cullen to strengthen our name but that woman's insane, there is no wonder why no one wanted to marry her in the first place.''

"Nice to meet you, Jasper, why are you still here?"

'I try to scare people so much that they leave. This house is bad, the family is horrible and our co-inhabitants are not to be reasoned with.'

"It's not working, is it?"

'That's because you're a lady, Bella, I don't scare the ladies. But I have no problem hurting your friend.'

"We just came here for the stories, really. We're not here to prove that spirits exist and a lot of our equipment isn't scientific at all."

'Do you believe that's the reason that that bonehead asked you to come here? To allow you to tell our stories? No, darlin', he already knows them. He's looking for something and he ain't gonna get it.'

"What is he looking for?"

'I ain't telling,' Jasper replied. Bella could feel his energy shift a little into the hostility area. 'But since ya ain't leaving, allow me to escort you through the ground level; I might be able to protect you.'

^escort^

"Oh, yeah, well, there are more than enough brothels in Chicago, Edward doesn't have to look in this place for that!" Kol quipped. "I swear, if that wanker makes one more move on Bella, I might snap his neck and I don't care if that human upstairs sees it."

'Your vampire is not whom I thought he'd be.'

"No, he's a good guy," Bella smiled and looped her arm through Kol's. "We'll be fine, Jasper."

'Very well, if you need anything, just call for me.' Bella could feel Jasper's presence leave them as they walked towards what looked like a former ballroom and immediately Bella felt a sense of dread. Granted, she felt darkness and bad things over all upstairs, but here she was dealing with real human, emotions. There was dread and pain and excitement.

She could hear some residual whimpering, but other than that, it wasn't powerful enough for her to see it with her own eyes. Humans could be more cruel than any dark entity, she knew this. "I don't think the Cullens were a particularly happy family," Bella said softly as she shone her light around the ballroom. "But they held parties here. Like…"

"A ball?"

"Oh yeah, big dresses I think. I can hear some rustling… But it's residual, there's nothing alive here."

"Good enough to take a small break?" Kol smiled at her. "Just to sit down and have something to drink?" Even with Bella's flashlight, it was still dark enough for him to drink in front of her, take some blood from that bloody thermos - he knew it was going to taste disgusting, but it was a necessity. Ever since coming down the stairs he could feel his energy being drained and while his guard was still up, it was not going to be enough.

"Sure," she sat down in the middle of the room and he joined her as she opened her bag and handed him the thermos before she grabbed a bottle of water for herself. "What was it like in the old days? Throwing a ball and stuff?"

Kol grunted, not having had too many experiences with them - and they all sucked. "It's just a bunch of people dressing up, talking, making connections and business deals with a lot of alcohol and waltzes," he then let out a snort as he opened the thermos. "I know the dances, but I was blessed with two left feet."

"Aw," Bella cooed as she took a sip of her water. "I'd likely keep tripping over my own feet."

"Ah, darling, you're a Mikaelson now, I'm sure that there are a lot of balls in your future," Kol said as he started to drink from his thermos. Just as he expected, it tasted awful. "I mean, I won't make you dance, but Myriam surely will. Now, while I drink, I want you to take a moment and dig deeper into the feelings you get off this place. Peel back a layer or two."

"I can't do that."

"I think you can. You've been far too quiet, you were talking more about stuff at the Sanatorium."

Bella huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You could have sensed our flying lessons coming upstairs, but you didn't. Because you've not fully opened yourself up," he said, nudging her with his foot. "Do it. You can always choose to close yourself off again. It's okay to be scared."

"I don't want to feed this house…"

"It'll be alright, now do it. I'm going to drain this thermos."

She grabbed hold of his foot, she wanted to make sure that she was at least holding some part of Kol as she did as she was told. Bella didn't want to do this. Absolutely not, because she was afraid, but Kol made her feel less afraid. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and moved her head from side to side to loosen up those muscles before taking another deep breath as a shudder ran down her spine. "I think someone got killed in here," she muttered, wrinkling her nose. "It smells disgusting."

"Oh, smelling things now huh? Could be the blood," he said, shoving the thermos in front of her nose with a grin on his face, causing her to back away from him.

"Yep. Never mind," Bella shuddered. "That's definitely you."

Kol laughed as he continued to drink. Oh, he knew she didn't like blood, and she had made that clear, but she promised to try to get used to it, perhaps it was right for him to drink in front of her more often, otherwise she wouldn't get used to it. It was adorable when he noticed her pinching her nose, still with her eyes closed.

"Oh," Bella said softly as she shuddered. "Someone has been killed here. Right inside this room," she kept her eyes closed as she focused on the skidmark. "It's residual, like what happened in the sanatorium."

He shifted the camera a little to make sure it was being recorded properly. "Tell me." He wasn't surprised at all that she had been running around without having fully opened herself up - it explained a lot about how she had been walking through the second floor with him. Trying to act all brave, as if nothing was there.

"I think that's Jasper, he's in a fight with this big, hulky guy dressed like… I don't know, a woodworker? Lumberjack?" Bella tilted her head as if she was trying to listen or shift what she saw. "Something about not consummating his union with the guy's sister? I mean, Jasper told me he was married to Alice Cullen via a proxy when he was overseas."

"In those days it would still be required to actually have sex with someone after marriage to seal the deal, sort to speak, married by proxy or not," Kol explained to her. "Especially in wealthy families."

"Jasper's death was an accident, though," Bella softly said as she pointed to the far end of the room. "There was a piano there and this bigger guy threw him across the room, Jasper cracked his head and the piano fell on top of him." She whined upon seeing the blood and Jasper's brains spilling out over the floor. "Oh, that's gross."

"Ouch."

"Another guy comes in, lean built, blonde hair… kind looking but he wasn't. Oh, definitely wasn't, he truly killed someone in his time. Once or twice. Ah… he told this big guy to take care of the body and then there was this huge cover up. For money."

'I was kinda hoping you wouldn't get to see that,' Jasper's voice sounded, snapping Bella out of her focus.

"I thought you left."

'I heard my name, ma'am.'

^ma'am^

"Oh, he's back?" Kol asked after hearing the Ovilus speak up. It was nice to have that thing on forever because it gave him information in real time. They checked the voice recorder that was running all the time too, but only afterwards, when they were editing. The results of the sanatorium had been insane.

"Yeah," Bella said as she took another sip of her water. "Telling me that he wished I hadn't seen the way that he died."

"Trust me, I can relate to the feeling mate," the vampire muttered to himself as he panned his camera around the room. "So, Bella? Is that murderer conscious or residual?"

"Well, this particular _event_ was residual, I'm not sure if this big guy is still around."

'Yes, he is,' Jasper sighed. 'His name is Emmett, Rosalie's husband. He's the muscle for the family.'

"Oh, she told me about him," Bella replied, blinking. "He beat her?"

'Oh, yes.'

"Bella?" Kol smiled at her. "What's he saying?"

"It's alright," Bella replied as she took the closed thermos from Kol and stuffed it in her backpack.

"That's not an answer."

^Emmett^ ^Around^

"Thank you, Jasper," Kol growled as he got to her feet and pulled Bella up too.

^Family^ ^Around^

"Brilliant," Kol replied as he dusted himself off before getting Bella cleaned up. "So, why were you guys quiet when Drew and his mates came visiting?"

'Oh, they were douchebags, trampling all over the place,' Jasper sighed. 'At some point we were afraid they would concentrate their attention here on the ground floor, but they found it funnier to play with the dark forces upstairs. Speaking of which; nicely done, Bella, closing those portals!'

"They kept quiet because they weren't respectful," Bella replied to Kol. "I doubt we'll get any other interaction myself, seeing as it feels like they're protective over something."

"Like what?"

Bella shrugged. "Perhaps a hidden treasure or something they hid in life, only for them to look at. Or something that should be destroyed in case it falls into the wrong hands."

"Like Edward's?"

"Likely," she nodded.

'He's Emmett and Rosalie's grandson. His father turned his back on the family the moment that he could; Edward's not entitled to what's in this house. He could do a lot of damage.'

"So there is something," Bella grinned. "What if we won't tell anyone, will you take us to it?"

"Hell no!" It sounded like a whisper, followed by the sound of a piano being pounded on a few times in anger, despite the absence of one.

"Oh hey, I heard that!" Kol replied. "Wow, you must really be passionate about this, Jasper."

'I'll be back,' Jasper groaned and Bella could feel him leave.

"He's gone," she said as she pointed at a door leading out of the ball room. "Ready for more?"

"Lead the way, you know how I love watching your beautiful ass."

Bella rolled her eyes, smiling at his antics as she continued to grow more accustomed to them. She turned to make her way across the room they were in, to another doorway on the opposite end. Poking her head through, flashing her light around to check for any dangers or obstacles, she drew in a breath. The room was quiet and felt more dark than the others, it was almost as if a little from upstairs had come down.

"You okay?" Kol asked the question that annoyed her time to time on these trips.

"Yeah," she drew out, still looking around. "I don't hear anything but it feels like something is staring at us."

"Something or someone?"

Bella turned around to look behind her as she struggled to hear for anything unworldly in the room, but it only frustrated her more. "I don't know. Maybe we should keep going? I don't think it's going to speak up, who or whatever it is."

"Why won't you try to see it?" Kol suggested. "You can see residuals, why not real stuff?"

Her flashlight turned on him, scowling. "Considering the feeling that I'm getting that it wants us dead, I don't think that's a very good idea to experiment with here. I'd rather try practicing that back in New Orleans. At least there, we know what we are dealing with. Even with your family's skidmarks."

Wincing at the word, he let out a breath. "Okay, let's move on then."

Bella started for the other exit in the room, pausing in the doorway to the hall. Tilting her head to the side, she turned the corner and around a sharp bend in the corridor. Her flashlight remained on the walls, as if searching for something.

Kol suddenly felt as if was being poked by someone. He was sure it wasn't Drew or Jeremy because he could hear them upstairs, fooling around with the Wonder Box on the third floor, and Bella was right in front of him. "I'm being poked. My sides, tapping on my back."

She glanced back at him, wide eyed. "There is something hidden in the walls. I'm sure of it. Are you holding up against it?" she questioned, glancing around him, still not wanting to actually _see_ anything. "Jasper?" she called out, hoping it might be him.

^No^

"Stop poking me, this is annoying," Kol growled lowly.

'Hmmm,' a female voice sounded. 'So tasty.'

Bella tensed as she narrowed her eyes, her flashlight darting around, searching for disturbances. "Who are you?"

'Oh, none of your worries,' the woman giggled.

"Yeah, hands away from there," Kol swatted around his ass. "That's not yours."

"Seriously. He may be hot, but he is mine," Bella added, feeling rather defensive on his behalf. "Shouldn't you have moved on or something?"

'My husband is here, why would I go without him? Besides, daddy scares me, he wants me to stay.'

"Husband? Are you talking about Jasper?" Bella grimaced, having recalled the ghost's story. "Do you think you might be able to help us? Find what is hidden?"

'I could,' Alice replied in a singsong voice. 'But daddy won't like that to happen and he's coming, you'd better hide!'

^hide^

"Um…" Bella blinked as she looked up to Kol. "She, um, wasn't very helpful."

Kol glared back at her, his hands covering his groin. "No? Really? She certainly made sure she got one last grabby attempt before she apparently took off on you. Maybe Nik should join you on the locations with psychotic molesting women. That would fun, yes?"

"Sorry," Bella replied softly, remembering how many times Jake got assaulted during their trips in the last two years. "If I could physically remove them from you, I would have."

"Yeah. In the future, Jeremy will research first and if there is someone with grabby hands, Nik or Elijah will go in. I'm really damn close to tearing someone's head off, she was starting to anger me that much," he pointed out, attempting to suppress a growl. "The others do have significant more control in that sense." Kol then felt a jolt of energy go through him before feeling a tug on the leash and Bella being smacked against a wall.

'You have no business here!'

"Ow," Bella whined as she tried to catch her breath. "People do like their walls here…" she rubbed her head as she steadied herself against the wall.

'Get out!'

^Get out^

'This is MY house. Why can't you people leave us alone?'

"So far, the only people who have done harm in this place is you guys, not us," Bella replied, quickly moving closer to Kol for safety. "I like to tell stories. In the absence of you telling me one, I have to go and explore." Her head was pounding still. "Please stop draining his energy to interact with me, I can hear you just fine."

'I do not think you understand girl. I want you gone!'

"Why?"

'I will make you leave. Heed my warning.' With that, the spirit let her go, disappearing so suddenly, it unnerved Bella.

"Maybe we should call Jeremy and Drew down here," she said, inching even closer to Kol and handed him her flashlight. "Hold this for a second? I want to grab some aspirin."

He silently took the flashlight, eyes narrowing as he stared at her. His head cocked to the side. The plastic of the handle began to crack from his grip as she dug through her sack, gathering her attention. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut and he was unnaturally still, even for a vampire.

She stared up at him, trying to figure out what was different, as he appeared to be in a great deal of pain. "Kol?" Bella whispered, her hand moving from the bottle of aspirin in her bag to that of the emergency vervain, grabbing a small stalk in her hand.

"Bella…" he ground out through his teeth. His voice was low and gravelly. "Jeremy…" he warned her with just a word before his eyes opened and were filled with nothing but black darkness as he shot forward after her, his hand dropping the flashlight to choke her neck as he pulled her around to him. "I warned to leave…" he growled, his hot breath in her ear.

Bella whimpered as she tried to push herself away from him. _Daddy Carlisle_. "Get out of him," she commanded. "He's not yours."

"Your friend is strong. I will keep him like I've kept others that have trespassed."

"Is that what you don't want me to find?" Bella breathed heavily. "The bodies you've buried on your property?"

The being inside Kol let out a dark laugh, his fingers tightening more around her throat. He breathed in her scent, her fear, as he smiled against her skin. "And what if the living found any bodies? I am dead. How will they convict me of the crime? There is no justice in the afterlife."

"Oh, there are ways," she thought of the witches, how they could help or priests exorcising the entire house before burning it down. She felt that she was losing consciousness and she needed to act quick before he'd add another ghost to his house. With her remaining strength, Bella pressed the bundle of vervain against Not-Kol's cheek, hearing it burn and blister the skin the moment it hit.

Immediately, his hold on her loosened and he stumbled backwards a step. Carlisle released Kol, taking off and leaving him collapsed on the floor, crying out in pain from the now healing burns of the vervain.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she dropped the vervain and reached out for him. "I didn't have a choice," she said as she finally dared to take a breath, feeling it sting a little as the altercation had likely bruised something inside of her neck.

Kol hissed as he felt his face before peeking through clenched eyes at her. "Yeah, I know," he replied with heavy breaths through the discomfort. Slowly sitting up, he still had some markings of the burn on his cheek, but it was fading. "I tried to keep him from gaining control, warning you when it was failing."

"Jeremy wouldn't have been here in time." She slightly coughed, feeling around for her bag to get some water and that damn aspirin. "You okay though? He didn't leave anything behind?"

He still was getting his bearings together when he finally turned his attention to her. "I - I think he's gone now. I don't feel anything but like I really want to take a long nap," he replied, rubbing his neck. Looking around, he shifted so that he could lean against the closest wall and put his head back, blinking absently. "I could have killed you."

"But that didn't happen," she reminded him as she found her bottle and the pills. "Do you want to get out of here?"

Kol hesitated, wanting so strongly to say yes, but he knew she wanted to find whatever it was they were hiding. "I was able to get an idea of where he was trying to keep you from while he was in me," he admitted, making a face of displeasure of the thought of the possession.

She grabbed the half broken flashlight and started to check him over; the light reflecting on his pale face. "You already drained the thermos earlier, didn't you?" She softly ran a hand through his hair as she made sure his face had healed up.

"Just a bit," he admitted. Another lesson learned. Even overfeeding before going to a place like this wouldn't work. "Perhaps you should wait for Jeremy to make his way back down."

"I have a feeling that I should do this with you," she replied as she shook the empty thermos. "Have some of mine?"

His eyes darted to her neck before shaking his head. "No, Darling. While it wouldn't be the first time, and I do doubt the last, when we do exchange blood, it would be for those times. Not like this. You're not a blood bag to me," he said, moving to push himself to his feet. "I should be okay until we get out. Let's find this thing that fucker is hiding and skedaddle."

"Okay, if you're sure," she said as she rubbed her neck and straightened herself out, stretching a little to loosen up again.

Kol pulled her back to him as he took notice of her movement, gently lifting her chin so that he could get a better view of the damage. Sighing, he grew more disgusted with himself for not fighting the being harder.

"Hey," she smiled at him. "It's okay, this wasn't you."

"Before we get back to the others, I'll give you a little of my blood," he nodded, kissing her temple, his eyes darting around for new potential threats. "I hate this place more than I ever hated Niklaus. That's saying a lot."

"I've never been to a place more secretive and uncooperative as this," Bella sighed, rubbing his arm. "It's frustrating and I hate it but there is something here. I feel this need to get it and run like hell. Then advise Edward to burn this place to the ground." A loud bang could be heard echoing through the hallway they were in. "Oh shut up!"


	14. Chapter 13

Kol lead them through corridors that were getting smaller each turn, before stopping dead in his tracks at a tapestry. Ripping it off, he pushed against the wall and a door opened, revealing a hidden chamber. From the sound of it, it sounded like a whole wide space, a stairs leading them down to the basement and further down. "Now, are you sure you want to go through with this?" He asked Bella carefully, not liking the vibe he got from the oncoming darkness at all.

"I think I need to," Bella quietly answered as she stared at the opening. "What about you? Are you okay? You feel any different after what happened?"

"I'm alright." And that was the truth, he felt alright. He wasn't feeling a complete 100%, but he wasn't feeling on edge, either. However, for everyone's safety, he hoped that whatever was waiting for them down the stairs wouldn't be taxing on him or her, otherwise he would have to use her friend as a blood bag and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stop. In fact, he was certain that he would end up draining the guy.

Bella looked back over her shoulder at him, gageing his sincerity before nodding and starting forward. Following the wall of the hidden section of the house as she could see no further than the edge of the weakening light.

'Miss Bella, you really should turn around and leave.'

She froze momentarily, uncertainty about any ghost in the place after what had happened to Kol.

'Carlisle's energy has been depleted, he will not cause you any harm for the duration of your stay.'

Her head tilted, stubbornness taking hold of her and she stepped forward to continue. "We came this far. I won't go until we find out what we need to know. _I_ need to know."

Jasper sighed. 'The Cullens were intrigued by immortality, they were part of a cult that still exists to this day. Now, does that satisfy your curiosity?'

^immortality^ ^cult^

Bella turned to look at Kol to see if he recognised if the Ovilus made any sense and he just appeared completely unimpressed. "Kol?"

He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah. There were a handful of cults back in the day, I mean, immortality is awesome for any regular human, they want to live forever. As far as my knowledge, the Volturi are the only ones still in operation. And they are bad news."

She raised an eyebrow. "But they are human...right?"

"Oh, yes," Kol said lightly. "I mean, they're human and stupid. I've lived among them for a while, just to see if they'd notice."

^idiot^

"Yeah but they weren't looking for vampires, mate," Kol said as if he was talking to a normal person. "They were looking for something special, but what, I have no clue because I didn't stay long enough to figure out their secret."

'They did find some legend of what they wanted,' Jasper confirmed for her, his voice echoing much closer to her. 'Carlisle's ancestors stole the scrolls from them and they have been searching since.'

Bella thought for a moment. "You know, you guys are dead. Don't you think that that legend would be better protected by a bunch of immortals?"

'If you find the scrolls you would understand, but the danger is too great.'

^danger^

"Let's go find us some scrolls," Kol said, determined now. Scrolls, legends, those things got his heart pumping.

Bella turned to look at him, a little scared and a lot concerned. "All the Ovilus said was danger."

"You said scrolls," Kol pointed out.

"I did - not. Jasper, um, mentioned them," she slowly explained, very confused. "When did you start hearing him?"

Kol scowled. "When he popped up, I guess. I think it's because of what happened earlier… some residual ghost juice or something."

'I agree. A remnant of Carlisle opened him up just a fraction to hear the dead - beyond his spectrum of death.'

"At least I'm only hearing a word here and there. Not entire sentences. I have enough to deal with the living, thanks," Kol was obviously disturbed by it as he looked around. "Are we in a maze or something?"

'Correct, but it's not a maze. Hallways. Corridors. Turns. To keep the evil in.'

"That's sick," Bella said as she looked at the walls, the same sort of scribbling she saw down here as she had seen upstairs. The walls were from floor to ceiling, there was no way they could possibly 'cheat' and get to the centre as quickly as they could.

"What evil?" Kol questioned, his defenses rising as the further they went along, the colder it got.

'Most of it was wiped out when Miss Bella closed the portals, so I suppose it's a lot safer down here as it had been. On the other hand, it'll also be easier for people like yourself, or Edward, to come down here and take what they want.'

Bella sucked in a breath as she focused on the energies. "Uh… definitely a Poltergeist or two, they migrated from the third floor to here… Shadow people… ugh, don't like those."

'Carlisle's _pets_.'

Bella got her bag and grabbed another water bottle. "That's okay, we've got holy water, we're armed and dangerous," she smiled at Kol. "Courtesy of our hunter friend."

He was focused on the area ahead. "Jeremy is annoying. Your wife could go play with him if she wants."

'I am sorry you had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of Alice's insanity. But rest assured, now that the floors above are cleaner than they have been, she's been having fun with your companions.'

^sorry^

"Is she dangerous to humans if they continued to come and explore?" Bella asked. "It would be difficult to stop other groups that don't respect the dead, but I would definitely like to try to get rid of Carlisle."

'No, Alice is harmless. She likes to poke and prod and touch people inappropriately. You haven't met Esmé, but she's in the kitchen - usually. She might… well… I think she might be harmful. Rosalie, you've met.'

Kol shook his head to at her, raising an eyebrow. "Not this time. We can send your friend and his group to investigate them another day. Let's get this scroll and get out. I don't like it down here. At all."

'Carlisle would require an exorcism, ridding us all from the house. But you haven't met Emmett yet and I can't seem to find him.'

"He's the one who killed you, yes?" Bella asked as she took Kol's hand as they kept walking, slowly, as Bella sprinkled holy water around them. "The muscle."

They were nearing the center of the winding hallways and the chill in the air was near frigid. Jasper disappeared before he could confirm Bella's question, and Kol stepped forward, keeping Bella behind him as he looked around the area for safety. Even though he could see nothing, it didn't mean he couldn't feel the danger in his senses.

"If there's something here, I doubt you'll keep me safe by putting me behind you," she said, assuring him as she set down her bag on the ground, gently caressing his back before she moved around him to look at the environment with her flashlight. There was an altar with pentagrams drawn on it, old candles, cobwebs, knives, everything, and that was kinda freaky, but she could see one of the scrolls in the bookcase light up. "You're seeing this?" She asked as she pointed at the light.

"The altar, I see," Kol scowled but couldn't see anything special about the bookcase she pointed at, other than it having dusty scrolls. "The Volturi is a cult in every way you can imagine. The guys running it are perceived to be their Gods, and their followers would pray to them. Through witchcraft, they'd actually gain more power."

"A witch cult?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Kol said, still anxiously looking around. "You're feeling anything?"

"I'm trying to ignore it," Bella said as she pulled the glowing scroll out of the book case and headed back to her bag to put it in there. "Otherwise I would have stopped halfway," she said, fastening the clasp and getting on to her feet.

"Give me that," Kol grabbed her bag and threw it down the hall behind them.

"Kol!" Again he grabbed her by the neck, picking her up this time, her feet dangling above the floor. His dark eyes glittered in the reflection of her flashlight that'd fallen from her hand. "Dammit Kol! Not again!" she clawed at his hands and tried kicking him.

"I know about your little trick girl. Father warned me," Kol's voice snarled, shaking her body like a doll.

"Jeremy!" Her voice croaked as she tried to pry Kol's hand off of her neck, her voice not even carrying out of the area as she struggled. She tried to kick him in the groin area, but failed.

Kol growled, grinning in her face. "I think I agree with Father. We will keep this body, but I will take you for a toy," he said as she licked his lips, eying her form in his hands. "But first, let's see what this guy can do when he's stronger…"

His vampire face bled out, causing Bella's panic to rise and her struggle to escape become more difficult. As he sunk his teeth into her neck, she was unable to keep from crying out from the pain it caused, feeling her neck being ripped. The more he fed from her, each new bite ripping her more, the fight in her diminished until her head fell weakly to the side. Her eyes were glassy and her breaths were shallow. It would not take much more for her to die.

Before she knew it, his presence left and fell to the floor and she fell into Jeremy's arms, who immediately pressed something against her neck as he cradled her. "You're going to be alright," he said, reassuringly, taking her hand and placed it on the shirt he had against her neck. Shifting a little, he dragged her bag closer for the thermos, unscrewed the lid and placed it near Kol's arm. He had to work fast, Bella was fading. Slicing Kol's arm open, he made sure that the blood flowed into the lid before the wound closed and forced Bella to drink the blood to heal her. It wouldn't completely restore her to a full 100%, but at least it would be enough to stop all the bleeding.

Jeremy then unhooked her from her leash and helped her sit up, making sure that Kol's blood could make its way through her body the fastest.

Bella gasped when she could breathe again, trying to get away from Jeremy in a panic, before realizing that he was, indeed, Jeremy and then burst out in tears. "Next time I tell you that I don't want to go someplace, will you listen to me?"

Jeremy let out a snort. "Yeah, yeah… it wasn't a fun trip for me either, you know. Drew is super sensitive."

She took few moments to calm down, just sitting in his arms before looking over at Kol. "Where's my bag? He threw it into the dark somewhere. Emmett, at least I think it was, possessed him. He said that his father warned him about the vervain. You think if we put some in his pocket, it would help? You know, in case he's still in him? Or should we burn him again?"

"Again?" he muttered emotionlessly. "What the fuck happened down here?" He pulled the bag closer to them after having grabbed it on the way over for the thermos.

"Yeah… the first time I managed to surprise him with vervain and saved myself," she said proudly.

"You have the dagger," he reminded her.

"Oh, believe me, next trip out, it's going to be ON me, and not buried deep inside that bag for safekeeping," she muttered as she weakly reached into the bag.

Jeremy let out a sigh. "You know, you could like, not date vampires. That usually helps with the safety aspect."

"I love my vampire," she replied before running a vervain leaf over Kol's arm, causing it to slightly sizzle. "And just as he has to deal with my things, I have to deal with his. How did you find us?"

"Oh, Jasper came looking for me. Quite urgently. I told Drew to start packing up and go outside and that I was going to find you guys," he replied as he scrunched his nose of the smell of burning flesh. "I think he's clean, Bella."

She moved to pull Kol's head to rest on her lap, stroking his hair back from his face. "How long do you think until he wakes up? Drew will get suspicious and come looking if we take too long."

"Could take hours, could take minutes," Jeremy shrugged, lifting her off of his own lap, feeling slightly unnerved with her pulling Kol's head into her own lap. "Drew's safe. You guys are not. We're waiting until he's back on his feet," he said before getting up and using his flashlight to look around. "Maybe we should send Ric and Bonnie over to look this place over?"

"Forget your friends. This place needs a priest and have it exorcised," she snapped, tired of the beatings that she and Kol went through that night. Twice they took her boyfriend over in order to kill her and claim his strength for themselves. She was not going to go down without a fight and win.

"But this place, it looks like witchy stuff. Where we are now. You know… yeah, the rest of the house could do with a good priestly beating," he motioned around, peeking in the book closets.

Bella looked back over at Jeremy. "One of the beings from up there," she pointed up to the ceiling, "Is what just took over Kol that you had to come down to rip him off me. That's not exactly witch like. It's damn near demonic."

'That was Emmett,' Jasper's voice sounded. 'I'm sorry, Miss Bella. The moment I realized I couldn't find him after you went in here, I went to get your friend.'

"You could have done more to keep them away," Jeremy said, not angry, but aggravation in his voice. "But thank you."

'I did warn them. But even after Carlisle took him over, they both wanted to press on, because of something down here, something that she needed.'

"Did you at least get it?" Jeremy sighed tiredly, wondering how on Earth he was going to get her upstairs and Kol at the same time, if the guy didn't come back soon.

"Yes," Bella sighed tiredly, running a hand through Kol's hair and softly kissing his lips. "Wake up," she scrunched her face when she tasted her own blood on him. "Kol, I know you can hear me, wake up. You've got all of the blood inside of you, so you wake up so we can get the fuck out of here."

Kol groaned as he begun to stir, his hand coming up to his neck at feeling it mending. Without having to open his eyes, he already knew that something terrible happened to earn being put down in such a way. "Jeremy, you bastard," he mumbled.

"Hey dude, welcome back," Jeremy grinned. "If it weren't for me, your girlfriend would be joining the ghosts in this house by now."

With that, Kol opened his eyes, immediately seeing not only Bella's concerned gaze looking back at him, but also a translucent being in military uniform. "Bloody hell, that fucker is ugly."

"You don't look that pretty yourself, either," Jeremy retorted. "Get up, we're leaving."

"Not you. We always knew you were an ugly fuck. I'm talking about him," he replied, pointing behind Bella, who stared at him confused. "Ever hear of a haircut? Scissors were very popular well before your time."

'You can see me?' Jasper blinked, before looking down at Bella, who seemed to be as confused as he was. 'But you're a vampire, you shouldn't be able to see me.'

Kol shrugged, but he was creeped out enough about two possessions, not of his own doing, and had enough of weird for one night. "Possessing a body isn't something my family isn't entirely unfamiliar with. However, I don't like it when someone is in my actual body, so I'd like to go home and get away from _this_ place. It's been wonderful, but please don't kill any more humans. I'll happily do as Bella requests, only it won't be a priest that comes. It'll be a witch friend who can trap the lot here somewhere else for eternity."

"I just want to leave," Bella said softly as she pushed him up in a sitting position.

"Then we leave. Let's go," Kol agreed, eagerly getting up to his feet and pulling her with him. "We swipe the vervain from your friend, I compel him to forget the weird, and we all go home. Wonderful ending to a psychotic trip that was meant to escape Daddy."

Bella clung onto him, still woozy. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I already scolded Jeremy, too."

"Not your fault. Not his either. None of us expected it to be this bad. Let's get you back to the hotel for some food and a good night's rest. You'll feel better in the morning. Perhaps pulling your present from Myriam out will be great now."

"It's in the car."

"Of bloody course it is," Kol sighed as they slowly made their way through the house. He'd vamp speed them out, but with the condition they were all in, it would only make Bella more ill, and him having to seek out more _sustenance_. As they made their way, to the main floor again, he looked around the hall, finding many dead spirits standing back, staring at them. A glance to Jeremy, told him that he knew they were there - that they had been there all along, as he was focused dead straight ahead in order to get out. "So, Darling. You've been neglecting with sharing just how many are remaining trapped here."

"I've felt them, but they're not talking so… I don't know. How many?"

"A lot. We have some practicing to do. You can't keep ignoring this."

"Right now I just want to quit."

"We're going home," he reassured her. No way in hell he'll let her quit. They still had no idea what the hell was on that scroll they just risked their lives for.

Drew was waiting for them at the gates to the property. "Wow, you guys look like hell, everything- holy shit, Bella, is that blood?!"

"Some of the ceiling collapsed on them in the basement," Jeremy shared, smiling at them. "A little banged up but otherwise alright. They were pinned which is what took some time getting out."

"You're in no shape to drive back," Drew shook his head as he opened the doors of the car for them. "I'll drive, you'll get my footage when we get back." He then turned to face them. "But please, can I say it?"

Bella sighed as Kol merely looked at her with a small smile. "I never wanted to come. I already bitched Jeremy out for talking me into it. Don't ask me to come here again."

"Oh, I wasn't referring to that. Merely this," Drew smirked as he helped Jeremy load in their gear. "I told you so."

"Shut up, man, really," Jeremy said with a whine.

"But at least you don't have to go anywhere for weeks! You've got so much footage to sift through and to have your viewers astounded!"

"Shut up," Bella sighed as she got into the car with Kol and placed the angel in his lap. "Better?"

"You need it more than me," he whispered in her ear, pulling her into his arms as they settled into the backseat.

Bella hummed an answer as she relaxed into his arms. Any other person would have run like hell after what just had happened, but she knew it hadn't been him. She was safe. She was still safe and she was going to be safe forever with him. But she wasn't going to return to the Cullen house, ever, because she knew, that both Carlisle and Emmett would be waiting for her, still there, ready to keep her. Now that the two evil entities knew what they were up against, the next encounter with them could prove to be lethal for Bella. "I love you," she whispered to him, looking up at him as she was huddled up in his arms.

Kol sighed, smiling back at her. "I love you too," he responded in like. "Tonight we will sleep, tomorrow morning get a good breakfast and then after lunch we need to have a long talk about this place."

"No, I don't want to talk about this place," she shook her head.

"I don't want to either, but we need to. Not tonight though. It's important for all of our safety and future."

Bella closed her eyes and listened to the soft voices of Drew and Jeremy in the front seat as they were talking about what they had went through during the night, grinning and having fun all around, despite being scared shitless because of things happening. It didn't take long before that, and the motion of the car lulled her into a light sleep.

When they arrived at the hotel, Kol gently carried Bella inside, nodding his appreciation to Drew while Jeremy finished up with him. He was more than happy to see the comfort of the bed. Setting her down, he carefully began pulling her shoes and anything off her that would make sleep uncomfortable. He then stripped down himself and gathered some materials to try cleaning up Bella best he could from the blood he had caused her to spill during his possession.

"I'll take a shower," she muttered as she rolled to her side, trying to get off the bed. His fussing over her had woken her up, which was alright. "Come shower with me."

He hesitated. "I will later. I need to go make a run…" he stressed, looking to her neck. "Despite what happened, it still took a lot out of me and I want to be able to give you some of my blood to help you heal more."

"My neck still a mess then?" She said as she sat up and looked at him.

"It's healed over, but I'd feel better about it."

She smiled then and gently caressed his cheek with her hand. "Go and do whatever you need to do and maybe get us a pizza for when you return," Bella got to her feet and softly kissed him. "Take the angel with you so you don't go nuts when you feed."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't fight me on this," she said as she handed him the angel. "I'll be fine," she said as she grabbed one of Kol's shirts out of his bag and slowly made her way to the bathroom as she heard Kol leave the room. Waiting for a couple of minutes, she took a deep breath and sat down as she started to get out of her clothes, blood on her shirt. Her blood. Emmett had bitten her like an animal; ripping her throat open as he drank, she could feel her skin rip and the memory alone made her shudder.

She liked the hot shower on her body, caressing her tired bones and warming her body as the dried blood washed off of her. Bella leaned against the wall and enjoyed the heat, not wanting to move from her spot, but knew she had to when she started to get dizzy.

Bella once again sat down to dry herself, got into Kol's shirt and waited for him to return as she tried to type up her experiences on her laptop from her spot on the bed, just to get it out of her system. She didn't like it, but she had to. She also had some idea of what he might want to talk about in regards to the property and knew he was right. She just wasn't ready.

She had been well into a rhythm of writing her thoughts about the property when her phone pinged with an email. Looking at it, she quickly dropped the device on the bed and looked around. Edward Cullen wanting know how their visit went, was the last thing she wanted to deal with. In fact, she was tempted to call Kol's brothers to come and deal with him in their _special_ way.

"Pizza!" Kol said, a big smile on his face as he walked back into the room. "Delicious pizza, freshly made with a lot of cheese and spinach and salami and all the stuff!" Oh yeah, he was on a high alright. He had found a couple of miscreants and after having taken care of them, he found himself surrounded by some more, so why not? "And you! In my shirt! Looking appalled? What's wrong, princess?" He said worried as he set the pizza down on the bed and squatted down in front of her.

"Would you be opposed to having Klaus taking care of Edward Cullen?" She asked as she shoved her phone away from her.

"I would be opposed, yes," Kol nodded. "I'd rather take care of him myself, but you wouldn't allow me before."

"I don't want that on your conscience. I know Myriam and Klaus would be okay together for something like that," she explained, sighing. "He wants to know what happened. I don't want to talk to him."

"We'll have Jeremy reply to him tomorrow," he said as he opened the pizza box and handed her a slice. "It has spinach. Good for blood." Fuck his conscience. He was a vampire. He wanted to tear Edward's throat out inside that house and condemn him to live with his ancestors. Yeah, that was a great idea, make him Emmett's bitch.

"After we are well out of the state and too far to turn back," she stressed, accepting the slice of pizza from him. She ate her slice, humming in appreciation but looked back at her vampire as he stared intently back at her. "What? Do I have sauce on my face?"

"Nope," he smiled at her. "Just very glad that the pizza agrees with you, have another slice," Kol handed her another slice. "How was your shower?"

She took it, though at this point she was rather suspicious. The more she ate, the livelier she felt and filled him in on while he was out, aside from the email she received that she'd already mentioned. "It was refreshing. I definitely would like to take another before we leave. I managed to get some written of the experience, though it will have to be edited for the blog post for followers. I don't think they would be able to handle an evil entity possessing my vampire boyfriend that almost killed me twice."

Kol laughed. "Yeah, that would be- not good. But it's good that you're writing it down even if you'll never post it. It's good to get it out of your system. I'm certain Jeremy is going to have a blast sifting through all the footage we accumulated with the four of us."

She set her computer aside and finished off her pizza before making her way across the room to him, wrapping her arms over his shoulders. "No more about that place. It would bring us nothing but misery if we continue on about it. Let's just worry about ourselves and going home now."

"No, we're going to have a nice sleep first. No doubt Jeremy's exhausted, too."

"Well, sure, sleep," she agreed, kissing his neck. "You sure there is nothing else?"

Kol groaned. Despite everything, he was feeling quite energized and they needed to get rid of the remaining adrenaline in their bodies. With her feeling better, who was he to refuse? "I've got an itch," he said as he buried his face in her neck, nuzzling her earlobe as he walked them to the bed. "Care to scratch it?"

~o.O.o~

Kol had woken before Bella, startled from his nightmare of having seeing himself kill her while not in control of himself due to Carlisle and Emmett Cullen. Rubbing his hands over his face, he quietly made his way to take a quick shower in attempt to wash the taint of the Cullen house from his body again.

Since she was still in an apparent sound sleep, he scribbled out a note to let her know that he was going to get breakfast and collect Jeremy so that they could get their day started for their return to New Orleans.

Walking down the street to the closest bakery, he let his mind wander about everything they'd learned so far with the property. The more he thought about it, the more he truly desired seeking out the living Cullen that drew them there and set this all in motion. If he laid eyes on the man before they left the city, he would not be able to hold himself back from killing him as brutally as flashes of his nightmare reminded him of Bella's death.

'Boo.'

"Bloody fuckers," Kol jumped, looking around, glaring at the apparition.

'I'm a ghost, boooooo.'

"Yeah. No shit. What the fuck do you want?"

'I need help. I don't want to be here anymore.'

Kol scowled at the guy. "I can't help you. I normally am not able to do this thing…"

'Can you go to my mom? She lives at the other end of Chicago and tell her that I am alright. That she'll be alright. Only then can I go, I need you to help me.'

He sighed, looking around, sure that he appeared to look like a complete tool speaking to himself. "I can call a friend that's in town. He can see ghosts too! He knows more about this stuff-"

'You need to help me,' the guy said angrily before punching Kol in the gut. 'Do it or else I will do bad things to you!'

He growled, hunching over. "Typically, I'm the one killing humans to put them in your place. My sister in law can do plenty to you that you would give you nightmares as a ghost kid."

'You shouldn't threaten dead people, dude,' the guy flickered out.

"Look who's talking! I'm dead! Bloody asshole!"

"You alright, pal?" A cop asked him as he was passing by. "You need some help?"

Kol turned around and sighed. "I think that's an understatement at this point, considering my girlfriend and best friend both see dead people and it seems that apparently I can as well. Unless you have some way of fixing me, I don't think you can help me!"

"Alright, buddy, take it easy," the cop said soothingly. "How about I take you somewhere safe where you can sleep it off?"

"All I wanted to do was get breakfast for my girl. I don't need to sleep anything off," Kol scowled.

'Excuse me, young man? I've fallen and I can't get up.'

Drawing in a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions in control. Closing his eyes, he tried not to give his attention to the old man that appeared.

'Can you tell my son that he needs to come to me and help me?' The man pointed at the cop. 'Dewy is such a good boy, he takes such good care of me and his mother.'

"Your name Dewy?" he muttered to the cop, scowling as he was forced to play along.

"Yes," Dewy nodded. "How do you know?"

"Seems your dad decided to pay a visit and wants you to go help him. Said that he fell and couldn't get up," he sighed, bored and anxious to get out of there. He was two breaths from compelling the cop.

"Don't play with me, boy," the cop suddenly turned hostile. "Do not mess with my family."

"I'm from New Orleans man. I know nothing about you and came here with my family to investigate the Cullen property at the douchebag owner's request…"

'Dewy doesn't believe in mediums, young man,' Dewy's dad said. 'His mother can't reach the phone, she's unconscious. I think we have a problem with the stove.'

"And your dad says you don't believe in paranormal. Your mom can't reach the phone and something is wrong. Something with the stove. You should check it out, but you have my alibi and I got hours of video proving my being at that god forsaken property."

"I will check it out as soon as I get you off the street."

'Always so diligent, that's my boy.'

"Yeah. I don't think so," Kol walked up to him and met his gaze. "You never saw me and received a call from your neighbor that hasn't seen your mother. You need to go check on her now."

"I never saw you, I shall go to my parents now," the cop nodded. "Have a good day."

'Thank you, thank you, good man.'

Kol sighed and waved him off, looking around. Maybe room service was more appropriate. "I wish I could kill ghosts," he mumbled to himself as he glared at the boy who was across the street, waving at him. "I hate kids."

Bella woke up with a start, finding the bed next to her empty, but not for long as the door swung open, revealing Kol looking grumpy. "Wow, what happened to you?" She asked as she found his note. "Breakfast?"

"How do you turn it off?" he asked in a rush, clearly angry and frustrated.

"Turn what off?" Bella blinked at him.

He pointed to his head then across the room where the ghost boy strolled in. "That! The bloody troll won't leave me alone!"

'Hello! Oh, a naked lady!'

Bella quickly covered herself up with the blankets and looked at Kol in shock. "You're still seeing things?"

"Just a bit."

The boy sauntered over to the bed and started to jump on it, causing Bella to bounce up and down the bed, making her sea sick. "Stop it," she said, swatting around her.

Kol growled. "How do I get rid of him?"

"Well, what did he ask you to do?"

He looked at her, flabbergasted. "He wanted me to go across town to his mother. This isn't my thing! It's yours and Jeremy's. I just rip the bad guys apart!"

"So why didn't you do this simple task? You're a vampire, you could have run back and forth within minutes, just a small, menial task." Bella said amused as the bouncing stopped.

"I don't do these things…"

"Well, he choose you to deliver the message, he won't stop even if we're going to New Orleans."

Kol glared at her. "So I'm stuck with this annoying kid?"

"No, not unless you give him some peace and help him, duh," she rolled her eyes at him as she got off the bed, making sure she was fully wrapped in the blanket and softly kissed him. "And as for closing it off, it's not foolproof and it took me years. Help this kid and then grab the angel from underneath the pillow."

He stood frozen as he stared forward at the wall after hearing her words. "Years?!" he squeaked.

"Yeah, I didn't manage to close myself off until I came out of the mental hospital and even still, it's always lingering, I still hear and sense people, just from a distance."

"This isn't want I want to hear, Bella," he said, looking at her. "I wasn't made to handle this stuff like this. I deal with the grunt work. I can kill. I have connections to get rid of the bad spirits or others that want to move on. I don't directly handle spirits."

Jeremy stumbled into the hotel room as the door was still open. "Woah. Nice kid! Hi, little dude!"

Kol turned his head in a flash and growled a warning at him. "Don't get it going!"

'Hi! Hi! Hi! Can you tell the bad person to do what I want? She sure can't!'

"Ah, still walking miles in Bella's shoes, huh, Kol?" Jeremy leaned against the wall, an amused smirk on his face. "I suggest you do what Bella's told you to do. I'll go get us breakfast. You take care of the boy."

Kol scowled as he found Bella smirking at him, waving her fingers at him before disappearing into the bathroom. Just as the boy was about to follow her in, his growl grew. "FINE! LET'S GO!"

"Don't forget to take the angel with you!" Bella reminded him from the bathroom as she turned on the shower.


	15. Chapter 14

Kol could now understand why Bella had been attached to that angel statue in Memphis, taking a break from all the spirits and shit like that. Occasionally, on their trip back, he saw lost spirits on the highway, likely those who died in horrific accidents and that quite unnerved him. Perhaps it had been a good thing that Jeremy had been driving while Bella tried to sleep on the back seat, clutching the angel.

It had been two days since the Cullen House, and while he was used to having nightmares, he felt for Bella; she whimpered and kicked in bed before screaming and waking the both of them up. They all were exhausted, he was more hungry than ever and Bella… Kol had to make sure that she wouldn't spiral down again like she had for the last two years. She needed to fight it.

She woke up before they rolled into New Orleans and had passed him the angel statue as he was still suffering from the last bit of her blood in his system. "Trust me," she had said. "They don't bother me because I close myself off enough, you're going to have a hell of a time without this."

And she'd been right. Of course he played with it and see what the fuss was all about, it drove him insane. "I will need to learn if we're going to be doing that again in the future," he implied, referring to their blood sharing in bed.

"I know, but the city is one big mess, it'll overwhelm you and it'll be harder to learn. I'm not sure how you've learned to close yourself off from all the voices and smells of the world around you, but maybe you could try that. At a quieter location where we can control the environment."

He let out a yearning moan. "Our bed sounds so wonderful right now. Nothing but silence and protection surrounding us!"

"I don't want to go back to our bed," Bella immediately said, shaking her head. "We're going to have to deal with our stuff, not numb it," she replied, referring to their nightmares and their experiences.

Sighing, he looked over the seat to her. "So the compound for Dr. Myriam to give us a check up? She'll love that."

"The Compound so that there are other people around who can support us. Provide a listening ear… and perhaps a cleansing or two. Jeremy has to stay too - granted, his experience wasn't that intense, but there was a lot of bad shit up there. I'm sure that Drew is suffering from some after effects as well."

"Ugh," Jeremy replied with a sigh. "Fine. I'm going to ask Alaric to see if there's something at the Armory that could prevent Kol from being possessed again."

"Armory?" Bella asked, still learning much of their lives before they came to her.

"Yeah, it's an organisation that specializes in supernatural artifacts and knowledge. Much like a library. It's very old and they have stuff that's ancient. So, who knows?" Jeremy shrugged. "Hey, Kol, maybe you could donate some of your dark objects to the Armory."

He turned his head to glare at his friend. Give up his toys? His main defense incase Myriam can't keep his brother in line? "No. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some of my stuff there. Maybe I should go and take them back."

Jeremy shrugged. "Asking Ric to see if there's something that could help you might be worth it, though, right?"

"Let's talk to Myriam first. No doubt that the moment we crossed the border into New Orleans, she sensed us and is running amok in the compound, driving Nik and Elijah mad."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was waiting for us to do a ninja cleansing," Bella snorted.

Jeremy started choking as he looked in the mirror at her. "Cleansing? Klaus would actually let her do that to other people? Guys? The fuck?"

"Like, waiting around the corner and jump from behind it with her stuff," Bella rolled her eyes at him. "It's not like a sponge bath. It's sage and noise and whatever her kind of priestess does to do that."

"My brother would be more likely to rip you apart before harming his in house voodoo witch. He'd probably be present or close enough to step in. You know very well how territorial we Mikaelsons are with our women," Kol muttered, narrowing his eyes at the stupidity his friend managed to conjure up in his mind.

"You're not that bad," Jeremy smirked as he turned into the street.

Bella, and even Kol, turned to look at him in disbelief. While she seemed at times to not be paying attention, there were moments she knew Kol was particularly sensitive when Jeremy was too close or strangers were overly flirty with her and he'd make his position quite clear.

"Just saying," he shrugged. "Klaus would have ripped everyone's head off, you have at least some control over those urges."

"Some? I wanted to bloody run all over Chicago to find that bastard Cullen but no! Dead ghosts had me doing their errands for them!" Kol exclaimed. "I still want to rip his throat with my teeth and bathe in his blood!"

Laughing, Jeremy parked the car and turned to his friends. "Just so you know, I made it clear to him that Bella doesn't owe him anything and that if he continues to harass her, that we'll call the cops on him. If he wishes to know what we found in his house, he should watch the first part on the channel next week, but he should not look for further contact."

"Quite mild… even I want him dead," Bella muttered as she got out of the car and nearly tripping over her feet if it weren't for Kol's speedy reflexes to catch her. "Thanks."

"Anytime Darling," he winked, kissing her nose. "Let's get this over with."

They carried their stuff into the compound, but the moment they set foot in the courtyard, Myriam loudly called; "Stop!" and they all froze to the ground, curiously looking upwards, where she was waiting for them in full pineapple gear.

"Hey, you weren't kidding about her looking like a pineapple," Bella quipped. "She does belong in a circus!"

Myriam zipped down the stairs, a lit sage stick with frankincense in her hand. She immediately blew it's smoke into Kol's face first, before covering him with it. When she was done with him, she moved onto Bella, and finally Jeremy, who coughed when it was in his face. "You have so much muck on you, we're going to have a ball the next couple of days," Myriam greeted them. "All the dark residue needs to leave. Wherever you went to, it was filthy." She said before making another round with her sage stick. "Peace and harmony are welcome, not the opposite."

Kol remained still as she did her thing, but his eyes darted around the building and could see so many dead being held back. He wished he brought Bella's angel totem with him, but he'd left it in the car, not thinking. "How long will this be going on?"

"It depends," Myriam said as she extinguished her sage stick, looking at the three of them, curiously. "Is there a reason why you haven't informed myself or your brother about the house you were playing around in?" She smacked Kol up on the head with the extinguished sage stick. "What you looking at?"

He cringed, glaring at her. "Your little pets you keep trapped here. There are like fifteen up on the balcony! More here or there scattered around. Do you really need so many spirits?"

She narrowed her eyes on him before looking at Bella, but eventually setting her eyes on Jeremy. "It's not a body swap, what happened, hunter?"

Jeremy glanced at Kol, feeling bad for his friend. "There was an incident at the location we were at and he drank from Bella," he said, softening the event a little.

"Drank from Bella… I don't see how that would change anything unless…" she looked back at Kol and hit him on the head again. "Did you get possessed? Did you nearly kill the poor girl?"

"Don't say it," Kol growled in warning. "Klaus' mate or not, I will kill you."

Myriam stepped closer, her face close to his now. "I fucking told you so," she whispered.

Snapping, Kol charged at her, attempting to get his hands around her neck. Her damn pineapple turban falling apart around them. Before he knew it, he was pulled off her and was on the ground with a broken neck - again.

"Um…" Bella stammered, staring at them. "Uh-"

"He had it coming," Klaus said gently as he made sure Myriam was in one piece. "So, the Cullen House?"

She blinked at him as she made her way to Kol's side. "How did you know? I hadn't said anything yet."

"Oh, that Edward person posted a long rant about how rude you and your friends were after he was so courteous with his invitation to explore his family owned home. What's this thing I hear about being married? Did you elope in Memphis, get married by Elvis himself?"

Bella sighed and wished for Kol to be awake to deal with his nutty brother himself. "No. I just didn't know what else to say when Edward Cullen was being so...persistent. He wouldn't leave me alone. Kol damn near killed him the day we met up with him to discuss the visit."

"Pity," Klaus said, looking at Myriam. "I suppose we'll have to cancel the cake."

Myriam shook her head. "Never. It's always time for cake. You may want to call the church and let the minister know he won't be needed for a formal ceremony."

Bella narrowed her eyes on the pair and decided to ignore them. "How did things go with my father?"

"Oh, let's compare notes when Kol's back to his senses," Klaus quipped as he walked over to their luggage. "Do you want me to take this to your apartment?"

"No, we're going to stay here for the time being," Bella said as she was still cradling Kol, running her hand through his hair. "The experience we've had was less than welcome and the apartment will only hurt our healing."

He nodded and turned to take the baggage up to his brother's room. "It'll be nice to have the family all together again. Rebekah, I expect her to be returning within a few days from her adventure to find love."

"Do you have a room for Jeremy, too?"

Myriam smirked and shrugged. "We do, but I don't think it would be a problem for long."

"It's just that Jeremy was in that house, too, you know, and while Kol and I received the brunt of it… I don't want him to be alone right now."

"That bad?"

Bella nodded as she continued to toy with Kol's hair. "When he comes to, I'm sure that we'll end up talking well into the night about our experiences."

Klaus didn't take long with their belongings and soon returned, sighing at the disarray his girlfriend was dressed in. While he adored her abilities and quirkiness, there were times that he grew overwhelmed by her. "They have all been cleansed by your sage and whispers. Could you please go straighten yourself up?"

"Aw, and here I thought you liked it when I dressed like this," Myriam winked at him before heading upstairs to do as she was told.

As soon as she out was out of sight, Jeremy turned to Klaus with a grin. "Here I thought she wore the pants and controlled you in every way. Looks like you do get to get some bossiness in there."

"Don't push it, Gilbert," Klaus warned him before motioning to his brother with a sigh. "Help me move him to his room so that Bella can continue to play nurse, this is a pathetic sight."

"If you hadn't snapped his neck in the first place, this wouldn't have been a _pathetic sight_ ," Bella responded, narrowing her eyes on him.

"What would you have us do when he was going after Myriam? Allow him to try to kill her? He is more than capable of doing the deed. He _has_ killed without remorse, countless times."

"I know that! But you could have pulled him off of her and protected Myriam yourself, not taking the neck snapping way out!"

Klaus shrugged. "It's fun. He'll sleep off his anger and will just have the munchies when he wakes. You will be there, likely, ready to offer him a vein like a wet nurse," the hybrid smirked.

Bella scowled as she pulled off her shoe and threw it at Klaus. "That's the worst idea, ever."

"Seriously. Them and blood is actually part of the problem right now," Jeremy pointed out.

"And I fully intend on hearing the details once our resident maniac awakes from his slumber, now, let's move him."

"No." Bella said firmly. "You dropped him here, it's where he stays. If you don't want to see this in your courtyard, you leave."

"Bella, please don't antagonize the hybrid," Jeremy sighed as he kept his eyes on Klaus. "He's one tough cookie to fight and he might actually kill me. Sure, I'll come back but no. Please no."

"We came here for help. Not to be put down," Bella pointed out. "No more cheap shots like this. You won't have a place truly safe from the dead in town if you press me."

"Well, I did offer to take him somewhere more comfortable for you, but if you wish him to stay here for my _punishment_ , then he shall stay, I am not bothered," Klaus said amused, wondering what in the world had happened to them at their location. He could not wait to hear the stories or share his own from what he learned from Bella's father - who, in Klaus' mind, should never have given the responsibility to take care of her.

"Do you at least have food until this jerk wakes up?" Jeremy questioned, making himself comfortable on the couch. "It's been a long morning and the drive was _irritating_ whenever Bella slept, hugging your girl's present to herself."

"No doubt Kol was describing any crash victim to you," Bella smiled as she looked down at Kol. "Right into the gruesome details."

He nodded, tired and annoyed. "That and whenever one decided to pop up in the car, he constantly argued with it. You slept like a baby."

Klaus' jaw fell wide open. "He's seeing dead people now?"

Jeremy scratched his jaw as he looked to Bella. She was keeping her attention fixated on Kol, completely indignant of Klaus. "Yeah. It should be wearing off soon though. Question. When you nearly drain a human, how long does their blood stay in you?"

"It gets absorbed into the bloodstream until we bleed or until our body has absorbed it in order for us to replenish."

"Uh… so it becomes a part of you?" Jeremy clarified, quickly looking down at the unconscious Kol.

"I know Kol has fed upon Bella, but blood sharing is hardly something major. I doubt he'd feel the effects of her magic. If it's even magic that's in her blood. Our bodies are able to absorb the magical effects, though. If it's a pint, it takes a day to fully be absorbed."

"Yeah, okay, so…" Jeremy said slightly hesitant as he pulled Klaus away from Bella and Kol. "I'll show you tonight what happened but eh… Kol got possessed by the biggest monster in that house and he nearly ripped out Bella's throat, drinking her blood, digging deep, very primal. I was quick to get some of Kol's blood after I snapped his neck because otherwise she'd have bled out. Like… it was weakly flowing from her neck, there was no blood pressure anymore. It was a really close call."

Klaus stared at his brother and the girl, more curious by the two. "Interesting. And you believe this gave him the ability to see ghosts? I thought you did not see them, Bella."

"There's more to the story and Kol wants to tell you himself, it'll make sense when he does, but do you think that whatever magic is in her blood will get out of Kol's system soon? The guy's really suffering."

"Well, I suppose we could speed up the process," Klaus said, thoughtfully. "A nice, old fashioned bloodletting!"

"Fuck off," Kol muttered, the sound of bones aligning themselves following, causing Bella to wince.

"Well, that's quick," Klaus blinked in surprise.

He sat up, rubbing his neck and glared at his brother. "You need to keep Myriam in line more. I won't have her bothering Bella or playing an Elijah and decide that we can't be together because it's not _safe_."

"I do believe that that wasn't the case, brother. She merely told you 'I told you so' for something I am not privvy of," Klaus said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Exactly my point. What that was, was between her and I, but it still stands true that I won't have anyone come between us."

"Myriam has been your greatest warrior for this, Kol. I doubt that she will."

"Best it stays that way. I'm not in the mood for any more meddling. I _will_ rip out the neck of the next bloody fucker that pisses me off," Kol growled, getting up to his feet and pulling Bella to him to give a kiss. "What have I missed so far?" he questioned, looking around and intentionally ignoring the extra presences in the room.

"Klaus was suggesting a blood letting to get my blood out of you," she said softly as she put her head against his arm. "I am so sorry for what you're going through. My blood is making you experience something and… I'm faulty."

Klaus scoffed at that. "You are not broken. If anything you fit with this family even more."

"Exactly," Myriam smiled as she bounded down the steps, dressed more normal. "And I don't think bloodletting would solve the problem. It's been too long and her blood has already been absorbed by Kol's body. Even if we drained what was left, he'd still have some fraction of her ability. Why this is, I haven't a clue. I mean, we all fed on witches at some point in our lives and we never gained this magic like that."

"As I said before, I'm more interested in knowing why Kol can see things while Bella can't," Klaus said as he made sure that Kol wouldn't be able to go after Myriam that easily again.

Kol turned and looked at Bella pointedly. They had a lengthy conversation at the hotel before they left after he had finally settled the problem with the ghost boy, and thoroughly freaking his mother out before he was stuck with a sobbing woman in his arms for an hour. "Would you like to tell them?"

Bella sighed, still embarrassed about what happened in the past. "Did Charlie tell you how he and mom put me in a mental hospital?" She asked Myriam and Klaus. "And why?"

Klaus smirked. "Oh, he told us lots of things, but that was one. You would have to be more specific on the event though."

Oh, Bella knew that Klaus knew, and she knew that he wanted to hear it from her, and that was frustrating. She started to pace around a little as she scratched her arms. "I always saw things when I was younger. My parents thought I had imaginary friends, but they were dead people. I snuck out at night to play at the cemetery until they managed to lock me up at home. At some point when I was fifteen, I saw people get stabbed and it hurt so much that it lasted for days, my shrinks telling my parents that I had a mental breakdown and they suggested to take me to a mental health institute in Virginia," she let out a breath as she kept pacing. "I kept seeing things. Not just the stabbed people but the ghosts at the institute and they weren't going to let me go so Kol's idea is that I buried it inside my head, like a collapsed wall making sure it won't ever come out again because it scares me to see things. I don't want to see things. Like how they died or what they look like in their death state or other things," she rambled. "And he's right. I can do more than I allow myself, but aren't I crazy enough already?"

Myriam, Klaus, and Jeremy sat there staring at her. At some point during her speech, Elijah walked in with a blond woman. "Perhaps you are, but then anyone would be to voluntarily hang out with my family," she spoke. "Especially so if you got yourself involved with Kol. We wouldn't hold it against you, though."

Bella looked at the blond woman in shock. "You were in my skidmark, you're Rebekah, aren't you?"

She looked at her alarmed and stared at her brother. "What the hell? Now that certainly is crazy. What kind of girlfriend did you find this time? Skidmark?"

"STOP SAYING THAT WORD!" Both Klaus and Kol shouted, displaying their clear discomfort by it.

"It's Bella's word for residual haunting," Jeremy offered. "We were in the Sanatorium last week and she encountered one of Klaus chasing you."

Rebekah's eyes widened as she looked from him to Klaus, to Bella and Kol. "I swear! I apologized to Nik profusely for what I did! I even tried to stop it!"

"Sister, I already forgave you," Klaus said gently. "And Bella shared the same story as you after her chat with Clara."

The vampire pouted as Elijah nudged her to a seat. She remained silent as he went to pour the room some drinks. "So, aside from an interesting addition to the family, what else have I missed? Clearly we have taken up one of the Five now. How did that happen?"

"I think you should tell them who you saw, darling," Kol said as he stopped Bella from pacing. "They need to know, it's alright," he softly kissed the top of her head.

"Who I saw?" she asked. "Are we talking about Jasper?"

"No, I'm talking about what we saw inside your head, your experiences. We'll tell them about the house, but we can't share everything about it without giving them more context."

"Right, and I tell them what you want me to say and then they will believe I'm some stalking nutjob."

"I'm the stalker," he grinned. "You're the little prey who made it very easy for me to hunt down and woo."

Bella rolled her eyes, smiling to herself before sighing. "I really don't know what to say about it. You understood more than I did. To me, it was more people's lives being ripped away so cruelly. I had no idea it was you."

"What?" Elijah said surprised.

"Bella here had a safe place inside her mind as a young girl, it was the woods around our settlement," Kol explained to his siblings. "Now, we've only been inside her mind once, but she used to play with a little boy and grew up with him, sort to speak. Me. The event with the stabbing… that was eight years ago. When Alaric stabbed me and caused most of us to temporarily fall. She saw our faces. She saw our joy, our pain she felt."

Myriam stared at Bella, pensive as she thought about whatever link she might have. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was definitely something otherworldly. "I think we all have seen enough in the past to believe that quite well. What I am curious about is what happened more recently that has you both wanting to hide here. It's something else."

"We were invited by an Edward Cullen to check out his estate. Bella immediately knew the short but fierce reputation the house has among the paranormal community and didn't want to go, but, we went anyway," Kol said, hanging his head in shame. "Jeremy and I were excited about it, it was something new, something untainted by our family and perhaps a good experience for Bella to grow. I felt that since she was so angry at her dad that she decided to go against her own instincts and agreed to do it."

"This Edward guy is a real piece of work," Jeremy said, shaking his head. "He basically invites the paranormal elite over to find a specific area of the house that's hidden from him but that house… is a nightmare. Bella's friend Drew insisted on coming with since he had experiences in that house with his mates when they were there for his TV show."

"Sounds like an exciting trip. What do you suppose Cullen is having so many investigators come through to look for?" Elijah wondered.

"We weren't sure. Drew said the most activity were on the top two levels so we headed there first and we split up for awhile. I took Drew to one side of the first floor, Bella and Kol went to the other side." He grabbed his laptop and searched for the footage that Kol shot in the room, including with them both flying and Bella closing the portal. "Look at this."

Klaus and Myriam moved closer before the others, as she was still uncharacteristically silent as she tried to figure their new friend out. At the part with the portal, she let out a breath, glancing over at Bella, knowing that she _shouldn't_ be able to do that. It almost had _her_ afraid of the girl. "You didn't say anything that the camera might not have picked up?" she asked, verifying that it was done by mere touch.

Bella shook her head. "I told those assholes that once I removed my hand from the wall that the portal would close, I'm kinda surprised that it actually worked."

"These types of things require a tremendous amount of energy to open or close," Myriam pointed out. "Or in most cases if the humans don't have access to a witch, as those with any real abilities won't show themselves, it would need a religious aspect to combat it. Like an exorcism by a priest."

Bella shrugged.

"So, once we were all okay after the flying lessons and scare, we continued our round and then decided to truly split up. Bella and Kol were going downstairs, as there was less activity according to Drew, and Drew and I stayed upstairs," Jeremy said as he fast forwarded Kol's footage to where they were in the ballroom where Kol told Bella to focus. After showing that, he fast forwarded it again, right before they'd encounter Alice and Carlisle. "Now, here's where it gets interesting."

"That bloody wench was irritating," Kol complained under his breath, still not happy about being felt up by the dead.

Everyone around the laptop gasped in horror when Carlisle took over Kol's body. "That house was draining you, wasn't it?" Rebekah said worried. "There is no way that that could have happened so easily."

"I did try to fight him off, but it was something else. It's possible he was around long enough to figure out some new tricks. It's not unheard of. Only we don't often seek these places out like this ourselves which is why we haven't quite encountered it before," Kol murmured, moving away from the group as he knew what was coming next.

When Bella fought Kol off with vervain, all the vampires winced. "Oh, that must have hurt," Rebekah said painfully.

"Not nearly as much as what happened in the basement section," he voiced from the couch.

Bella walked over to him and sat down next to him, crawling into his arms.

"Bella was talking about being drawn to that hidden place, she's in contact with Jasper, one of the good ones who actually cared for her well being, even showed himself to us earlier on in order for her to leave the house. Kol had seen the area when Carlisle shared his body with him and lead them straight to it. It was a maze, but not. Walls, corners, very spooky, until they came across this," Jeremy said as he showed the Mikaelsons the worshipping area on the video still.

Elijah scowled as he narrowed his eyes. "Where have we seen that before?"

"Italy and Greece," Klaus snarled. "The bloody Volturi. What in the world are you getting involved in now?" he spun and glared at the couple. "You know how much trouble that group would cause if they found their fabled source of immortality?"

"Yes," Kol shot at him, not looking at him. "I told Bella this too, don't worry, we know and we know why the house wants to keep it a secret from Edward."

"The wanker would most likely run off to their insane leaders of the moment. Well? Was there anything to be found there that they fought so valiantly to protect?"

"You can't see it, but there was a scroll that lit up for Bella," Jeremy said as he pressed play, showing Bella heading straight for the scroll and pocketing it. "Like, it lit up, like the portal did for her."

Everyone in the family, save for her two boys, turned to stare at Bella. "What are you?" Elijah murmured, curious more than anything.

Klaus was only mildly suspicious considering how he normally could be, and Rebekah was still incredibly confused.

Jeremy sighed as he paused the video again. "Now, what happened next was quite shocking. You don't see much of it on video, but you can hear Bella's screams, see the blood and her feet… and uh… the aftermath," he said as he unpaused the video and saw how Bella covered her ears and turned even more into Kol for safety.

There was a considerable amount of growling once Kol was once again possessed, the desire and inability to protect their family coming through. Myriam turned away at seeing Bella being practically torn by his teeth and the sigh when he was put down with a broken neck just in time.

Klaus was glad to see that the hunter acted fast, putting pressure on Bella's neck before getting her some of his brother's blood. Seeing all the footage explained a lot why Bella wanted them to stay at the compound for awhile. Kol was likely feeling extremely guilty and both of them were dealing with something not unfamiliar to him; PTSD. All of them had some form of it and had managed to live with it, but this was fresh. This needed to smoothe over.

"Kol started seeing ghosts almost immediately once he came to, once both he and Bella were done and headed out," Jeremy explained. "That small angel statue has been his lifeboat for the last couple of days."

"When she isn't clinging to it to be able to sleep," Myriam observed. "Have you gotten any sleep yourself Kol?"

"What do you think?" He shot at her. "I try and then I see myself ripping her throat out and killing her, over and over again and when I'm awake, I see dead people who want my help and they don't fucking stop."

Nodding, Myriam took off without a word. Klaus already had an idea of what she was doing, but he'd let her talk whenever she was ready. "Then here you will stay until you feel you are able to go back to your apartment."

"Oh, we could go back to our apartment and live blissfully, that's just it. We can't do that. We can't ignore the effect the experiences have had on us because it needs to run its course," Kol said irritated. "I almost wanted to chuck that angel statue out of the damn car window the first few days because Bella was too happy with it that she could visit famous landmarks without being bothered, now I'm glad that I didn't and know what it does for her."

"Have you taken a look at that scroll?" Elijah questioned curiously.

"Not yet. We'd like to get some real rest for awhile before diving into this nightmare again," Bella replied. "Maybe in a day or so. Not right now."

"Alright, that's enough for tonight," Rebekah said, getting to her feet and headed over to her brother and his special girlfriend. "You two, on your feet and march to your room," she pulled them both up and pushed them gently towards Kol's room. "Nik can tell you his findings tomorrow."

"Bekah…"

"Shut up, Kol," she said as she smacked him on the head. "I'll be outside your door all night if you need me."

Bella tugged on his arm to turn his attention to her. "Let's go lay down then if they are letting us. I am pretty tired."

"Yeah, alright," he sighed as he put an arm around Bella and smiled at his sister. "Thanks, Rebekah."

"Of course," she smiled at him as she moved to open the door, but Myriam surprised her by walking out first.

"Sweet dreams," Myriam smiled at Kol and Bella. "In a perfect little bubble for now, I'll have the anti-dream part of that bubble lessen over a couple of days, but you really need some sleep."

"But I like _some_ of my dreams…" Bella murmured, her face reddening.

"We all do, sugar," Myriam smiled at her. "But sleep is needed and dreams are as distracting as those activities in such dreams. Of course no one is stopping you from the act before bedtime."

Rebekah groaned as she sat down on the sofa in front of the bedroom. "Go on, in you pop."

"We aren't children," Bella glared at the blond. "Don't treat us like them."

"Rebekah wants to do something nice, let her," Kol soothed her as he gently pushed Bella into the room and closed the door; locking it from the inside. "There. All alone."

"Is she really going to sit outside all night? Because that's rather disturbing," she pointed out. "Especially if I had been less tired to be able to do what I wanted."

"Well," Kol said as he lifted Bella up and took her to the bathroom. "I think Rebekah feels guilty for that residual haunting you encountered of her and our brother… and she's curious of you… and she's actually pretty caring. Not a lot of people get to see that side of her, she's usually very bitchy." He put her down and put the plug into the bath before running the water and started to strip Bella out of her clothes.

Bella smirked, watching him as he moved about, leaning against the sink counter. "So is Klaus, despite his attempts to shield the fact that he worries about everyone. He's not sitting outside the door right now."

"Ah, what can I say, darling?" Kol smiled as he tugged on her panties before pulling them down. "I'm her favorite brother." Once Bella was deliciously naked, he got out of his own clothes and checked the water temperature before throwing in some of the lavender leaves that Myriam had placed near the tub and helped Bella step into the bath. "But, let's just relax now. You and me."

"You're not hearing me complain," she sighed happily as she settled against him.


	16. Chapter 15

"The most important thing that we've learned from your father, Bella," Klaus spoke as they were having some afternoon tea in the courtyard with the family, "is that he loves you unconditionally. In all honesty, should I had been blessed with a daughter, I would have likely reacted the same way he has done."

"Humans get very protective over their children," Myriam explained. "Especially when they think something's wrong with them or when they feel they can't help their child and alleviate their suffering."

"He doesn't trust me enough to be on my own," Bella replied bitterly. "Or to make my own choices. I'm not a child anymore."

"I understand, which is why we've told him just that before we sent him on his way," Myriam smiled kindly. "You won't have to worry about him worrying about you."

"But he did have a right to meet Kol and Jeremy, so perhaps you could head up to Forks soon to allow the meet to happen?" Klaus smiled at her. "It would be rude of us to keep you all to ourselves."

She raised a brow at him. "See, I got the impression that vampires tend to be selfish creatures. Why must you go against those norms now?"

"Because the old fool means well and he poses no threat to you."

"It's only because he no longer poses no threat to you," Myriam winked at her. "But it's your own decision, Klaus only got a little bit sentimental."

Bella huffed as she took a bite out of her pastry. "Not understanding what's going on with me or not, he and my mother should not have done what they had." She blinked when she thought the inside of the pastry tasted differently and dropped it upon realizing that there was blood inside of it. "What the hell!" She squeaked, spitting out the bite she had already taken and quickly downing her glass of orange juice to mask the taste. "What the actual fuck!"

"Now, now," Kol snorted as he watched her freak out. "What did I tell you about your potty mouth?"

"This is not funny, Kol," Bella shot at him. "And nothing sexy either!"

"You've tasted my blood before, this isn't any different, just… human," he said as he picked up the pastry and sniffed at it before looking at his family. "Which of you jokers did this? Bella's still reeling from the Cullen House."

"And she's a part of our family and things happen. Bad things happen a lot and there's no pause to actually process it all," Klaus smirked as he leaned back in his chair. "Which made all of us agree that unlike yourself, we will not hide who we are. There will be blood, there will be feeds. Hell, we might even use Marcel's vampires for target practise."

"Fine! But no feeding the human blood!" Bella said angrily. "Vampire or otherwise!" She could still pull up the imagery of Jasper's head smashed to pieces and the brains dripping all over the floor from the impact of the piano toppling on top of him. There had been so much blood, she was lucky she couldn't smell it but now, this pastry was offensive and she didn't want to eat anything else that was on the table right now.

Kol turned and looked at her. "Hey now, let's not go overboard there," he started objecting to her objection. "You didn't seem to mind drinking from me knowingly."

"That's different," Bella pointed out before pointing at the pastry. "That's entrapment."

"I have to admit, Bella's right about that," Rebekah snatched the pastry out of Kol's hand and munched on it before sitting down on the couch again. "Have you even met Marcel? Or Cami? Or Davina, even?"

"Oh, she's met Davina alright. And Kaleb."

"How did that go?"

"Disastrously. Thanks to Cami, Davina won't come after us because of that."

"Bella assured Davina to try it again with Kol. That was before she stopped fighting her own instincts, bless her heart," Klaus said amused. "It didn't go well."

"No kidding," Rebekah laughed before looking at Bella. "You sound so innocent and pure, but you're not, are you? You'll come round and bite us all in the arse."

Bella blinked at her. "Huh?"

Myriam smirked and grabbed another pastry from the same tray, moaning as she bit into it. "What she means is that you are more like us than you realize. You will see in time. We just have to break you out of that shell that the hospital trapped you in from your parents meddling."

"Not to mention all the psychiatrists meddling with your young impressionable mind," Klaus pointed out. "It's what humans do; destroy things that they don't understand. It's a good thing that you both chose to recover from your experience here, but don't expect us to behave any different around you, because it's a part of us, just like the ghosts are a part of you."

"I don't want you to," Bella blinked as she looked at the vampires in front of her. "Seriously, I don't."

Klaus and Myriam shared a diabolical smirk that had the rest of the table growing concerned. Elijah, who'd been largely silent until that point glared suspiciously at his brother. "What are you plotting?"

"Nothing but a bit of tough love for our new sister! Only for her to make the most of her life and gifts if she is to continue to be surrounding herself by our kind."

"Now, don't over do it, Nik," Kol warned him, knowing full well how his brother thought and how Myriam's mind worked. "I mean it."

"Don't worry, brother, I'm fairly certain that whatever we do, we won't be able to drive your Bella away, seeing as she's still with you after you nearly killed her."

Kol narrowed his eyes on him. "Too soon, Nik. Too soon."

"Oh, grow up, Kol."

"Oh, yeah? Imagine Myriam being mortal and you not having control over your own body and nearly end up killing her!" His vampire face came out in his anger. "And having to relive that in your nightmares! I'm very grateful for your woman for what she did to the bed and allowing us to have a decent night's sleep, but-"

Klaus slammed his hand on the table. "I warned you about the consequences! Not just that, Myriam warned you about the consequences! Don't act like you didn't know you were getting yourself into!"

"I'm surprised he has those feelings, I thought nothing fazed him," Rebekah deadpanned.

Kol growled, his patience reaching a limit and zipped behind his sister, snapping her neck where she sat. "Do not bring it up again," he warned everyone staring at him before storming out of the room, slamming doors in his wake.

Bella slowly got up, feeling uncomfortable. "I'd better go and -"

"Sit down," Elijah said, not looking up as he cleaned his hand with his handkerchief.

"But Kol-"

"I will not ask you again," he said, looking up at her.

She scowled as she stood there staring at him. "Are you always an ass?"

"He is," Klaus replied with a slight nod. "But he is correct, sit down. Kol needs to release his anger and he won't do that with you around. It's likely he's going to storm out any time soon and head out for a hunt."

"He shouldn't be alone," she pointed out. "He still has issues with my blood. If he got this upset about your idea of helping me, imagine how he'll be ambushed out there by New Orleans spirits."

"He won't be alone, don't you worry about that," Elijah said calmly. "Your presence calms him, but to him that works only as a pressure cooker and he needs that release."

"You're insane," Bella said as she headed towards the room she had shared with Kol, only to be stopped by Elijah. "Get out of my way."

"Or what?" he asked with an amused smile on his face, curiosity in his eyes. "What will you do to make me go out of your way?"

Without any sign of Jeremy having been there, he leapt down from the first floor, right on top of Elijah and snapped his neck.

Bella looked down at the now unconscious vampire. "I don't have to do anything," she smiled.

Jeremy smirked. "You, me and Kol need to have a chat, I may have found something that could help him."

She looked up at him, interest glowing in her eyes. "Really? What?"

"Against yours and Kol's wishes, I called my friend at the Armory," Jeremy said as he lead the way to the bedroom. "We had a long talk and he may have found something ancient - well, Originals ancient. A relic from their time in Mystic Falls."

The scowl on her face was clear of her disapproval but she listened anyway. "Like what?" Klaus questioned, being the last conscious sibling and no interest in getting anywhere close to the girl now.

"Like… it has nothing to do with you, Klaus," Jeremy turned around and smirked at him. "Let me discuss this with Kol and Bella first."

"Bella is our sister now and if it has to do with the family then I believe everyone should be aware," he challenged.

"As I said, it hasn't got anything to do with your family, just something that could help your brother," Jeremy opened the door to the bedroom and found Kol standing there, arms crossed and looking hella pissed. "And you need to ease up before I will snap your neck and I'd rather not do that because Bella will be pissed. I come in peace."

"You want me to kill her?" Kol was clearly agitated.

"You want me to put you down?" Jeremy questioned before grabbing a chair, smashing it against the wall and broke off a leg. "Might not put you down for long, but longer than your neck snapped."

"Hey, both of you, knock it off," Bella said, smacking Jeremy on his head and walked over to Kol to do the same. "No killing, no stabbing, no snapping." Before she could smack Kol over the head, he grabbed her hand and looked at her intently, eyes darkened. "Oh."

"Yes. Oh," Kol said angrily. "Myriam hasn't done her job correctly."

Bella smiled at that as she looked at his hand still holding on to hers. "Or perhaps she missed this, like I have, like we all have," she said kindly. "Please let go of my hand so I can get you some help."

"Oh, I can't."

"Jeremy, would you please be so kind to get Myriam and have her armed with burning Althea Root, holy water, sage and… hmm… a mixture of angelica root, rosemary, basil and garlic so she can perform a deeper cleansing?" Bella said kindly, not breaking eye contact with the struggling vampire who was holding so tightly that she was fearing for broken bones in her hand. "Quickly?"

"On it," Jeremy darted from the room, leaving Bella and Kol alone.

"So we were followed home," she reached up to his face with her free hand and gently stroked his cheek. "It's not-"

"No," Kol replied quickly as he realized what question she wanted to ask. He slowly shook his head. "I think this happened upstairs."

"Right…"

"It explains a lot of what I've been feeling, though."

She winced when the hold on her got tighter. "It does." She didn't have the heart to tell him to ease up on holding on to her, it was almost as if he was holding on to her as a last line of defense. "It'll be over soon."

"It's because I've slept so long, isn't it?"

"Yeah, likely," Bella sighed as she smiled at him. "But that's okay, now we know. It's just an attachment, not a full possession, and you're fighting like hell."

"I'll never sleep again."

"Don't be silly," Bella laughed at him, and winced when the tight got harder and the feeling and sound of bones being broken - she wasn't even sure if he knew that he was doing that.

Before she knew it, Myriam swooped in and started to do a different cleansing ritual, this time it actually involved yelling at whomever or whatever was attached to Kol and to fuck off - perhaps in a nicer way but Bella just wanted it to be over so she could have Kol back and to finally release her hand. It seemed to take forever, but once she was released, she stumbled backwards into Jeremy and Myriam kept going, just to make sure that there was nothing left; or to torture Kol and he let her.

Myriam then turned to Bella, with a pleasant smile on her face. "Just a thought; if you can close portals, why can't you cleanse someone from an attachment?"

"I don't know," Bella said through gritted teeth, holding her broken hand. "Because maybe I haven't been able to in the past? Don't you think if I was able to do that, it would be one of the first things I'd try to master?"

The vampire appeared thoughtful, considering what she said. "True. Okay. Might I suggest that after this particular situation is resolved, you stick around Louisiana for future projects in case some shit like this gets stirred up again so that we can fix it quickly?"

Bella huffed. "Sure, it's not like Kol and Jeremy are allowing me to quit, anyway."

Myriam was confused as she eyed her. "Why would you quit? This is a part of you. Despite what Klaus and I have said to Kol about his involvement, it's only out of concern about not just his safety, but yours as well. We wouldn't try stopping you. Only figure out more safety measures to prevent something like this happening again."

"I don't know, I'm just tired… too many… bad things happening in the last few years, I guess," she sighed. "I should go to a hospital now."

Myriam went over and gestured for her to hold out her hand. She was careful as she felt the bones and nodded. "All you need is some vampire blood and it'll be good as new in a few hours. Any preference for your donation?"

"Get out," Kol said as he sat down on the bed. "Thank you, but get out."

"Donor has spoken," Myriam shrugged with a smile, winking at Bella. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" she sang before zipping out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her.

Sighing, Kol stared at the door wearily. "There really isn't much that woman wouldn't do," he muttered. Looking to his girlfriend, he gave her a weak smile, waving her over with a jerk of his head. "Come here Darling."

Bella sat down next to him and softly kissed him. "It's okay, don't feel bad."

"I'm trying not to, but the crazy woman is right. We do need to find better safeguards for next time. I have no doubt that there are locations with beings much older and stronger than the Cullens. However, before that, let's fix your hand," he said, holding gently in his before biting into one hand for her to drink.

Bella eyed Jeremy. "Stay," she told him as if he was a puppy and then reluctantly drank some of Kol's blood. "Ugh," she muttered as she wiped her mouth. "Why can't it taste like lemonade?"

"I'm fine. You have no idea how many times I've gone through this myself or my friends," he shrugged.

Kol smirked and kissed the side of her mouth. "You weren't objecting when you drank from me in bed. I've been told I taste like chocolate."

"That's usually because I'm completely out of my mind," she said with a slight giggle. "High on endorphins and shit."

"TMI guys!" Jeremy objected, reminding them they weren't alone. "So, care to hear what Alaric told me that could totally help Kol on our adventures if the story's true?"

Kol raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "That is what you dragged her up here for initially. What is it?"

"Well, the story is that when your mother cast the spell to make you guys what you are, her magical toys were imbued with the same magic or something, uhh…" he scrolled through his phone. "Ric found an eyewitness account of someone seeing an angel around the village - yes, this is freaking insane."

"Angels don't exist," Kol and Bella replied together.

"No, they don't," Jeremy laughed. "But back in those days, people believed what they believed. Rumor is that the angel tried to stop Esther from doing what she did and it may have affected her instruments. Not the spell itself, but the instruments. Imagine this; if angels are real, were real, and it did imbue something with their essence…"

"The other witches in the village objected to what she planned," Kol pointed out. "Your Bennett witch friend's ancestor being the biggest critic. Comparing something to an angelic being, they would likely have to have some sort of non-corporeal form."

"I know that story, yes," Jeremy nodded. "Well, witches can see dead people, can't they? Who knows? It could be a ghost story and the relic could be worthless, but it's worth a shot, right?"

"Some, not all. It's usually a very specific class," he reminded him, before sighing. "What is this relic? We took almost everything possible of our mother's that we could when we fled from Mikael."

"It's ah… a piece of what looks like to be a totem with Mikael's crest on it," he showed the picture of a small, broken off object to Kol. "No idea what the larger object was, but it's clear that it belonged to your family."

Kol took his phone and studied the image, trying to place it from when he was still human - the first time. "I don't remember this or anything it could be from. But then again, I didn't bother learning my magic from my mother. I spent most of my time with the other witches nearby. Rebekah or Elijah might know what it is."

"But do we agree that it's worth a shot? I mean, while Myriam is a formidable voodoo priestess, her powers do have limits."

"A long one, Jeremy," he stressed. "We don't even know what it does, if it's even true. It could make things worse. You know as well as I magic is unpredictable."

"So… we're going to leave it at the Armory?"

"Well, I'm not going there! At risk of being held prisoner there. You're bloody out of your damn mind. Why do you think we avoided them. They were involved with Rayna mess. We made damn sure to steer clear of that demon girl."

"Yes, they were terrible, but this is Ric. He's the leader now and he's one of the good guys, remember?"

"Didn't my family try to kill him a few times?" Kol thought aloud.

"I have to agree with Kol," Bella said after giving it some thought. "It could be a fake. It could not work. It could be dangerous. If the Armory is truly some sort of vault for unruly magic, it's best if it stays there." She then sighed and looked at Kol. "I'll just have to break down every wall I have in my head and see what I can do, for real. See ghosts. Cure possessions… Myriam's right, if I can close a portal, I likely am able to pull spirits away from people."

Nodding, Kol was a little more skeptical. "You might be able to, but everyone has their limitations. Don't be upset if you aren't able to do that. However, we have some time to rest and regain our strength."

"I want you to be safe."

"And I am, just as I want you to be. We will figure it all out. Don't worry. Now, besides Jeremy's Indiana Jones poor imitation of relic hunting, I'm curious about the scroll you nicked from the Cullen house."

"Me too," Bella grinned and flinched as she could feel the bones set in her hand. "Oh, that feels strange."

Jeremy snorted as he made himself comfortable in an armchair across the room. "At least it's your hand. Imagine it being your neck. That really sucks."

"No thanks to you," Kol glared at him.

"Hey, it was necessary, alright?" Jeremy defended himself and watched as Bella took the scroll out from her bag. "I thought you wanted to do it in front of the entire family?"

"No, with Klaus and Myriam," Bella said with a shrug, the scroll feeling warm to the touch. "But what if this is something really bad?"

Kol smiled and ran his hand over her back. "It might be, or it could say that you are the descendant of some gorgeous Greek goddess."

"Oh, I doubt that," Bella rolled her eyes at him. "Like angels, they never existed and are just a figment of someone's overactive imagination."

"Many believe that vampires don't exist," Kol reminded lightly.

"Or ghosts, for that matter," Jeremy added with a smirk.

"So Greek goddess. I can live with that," Kol grinned, moving in to lightly nip at her throat.

Bella rolled her eyes at him. "I highly doubt that I'm a Greek Goddess or anything related to the Greek… though Charlie could pass for a Greek, but he's not my biological dad."

"You're my goddess though."

"Guys," Jeremy groaned and pointed at the door. "Klaus, Myriam, food, scroll, let's go."

"Great. I get to break Elijah and Rebekah's necks to keep them from bothering us," Kol stood, stretching his back before reaching for Bella's hand. "Care to join me, beautiful Goddess of my Bed."

"Oh, I like that," Bella said as she put the scroll underneath her arm and took his hand with her good hand, still trying to ignore the sensations in her other hand. "Goddess of the Bed. You're definitely the God of the Bed, no doubt about that."

"I fucking hate you two," Jeremy said grumpily as he opened the door.

"There is an invention called ear plugs. Invest in them," Kol grinned, guiding Bella out of the room and back downstairs. "Nik! Nik's crazy girlfriend!"

"You don't have to shout," Klaus said from his seat on the sofa in the courtyard they all had previously abandoned. "We're still here, enjoying our premium blood. Are you going to share what young Gilbert has found with us?"

"Nah, we shot that idea down," Kol said as he sat down on a chair, pulling Bella onto his lap. "We're going to discuss the scroll that we took from the house, the one Bella was drawn to."

"Oh, what is it?" Myriam clapped excitedly.

"We don't know yet," Jeremy said, curiously eyeing the pastries before grabbing one from the plate that seemed a bit more safe to eat.

Bella eyed Jeremy as he grabbed his food, holding an internal debate on warning him about what the family pulled earlier. "I wanted to include you two in on what we learn regarding it as you've helped us, me, so much," she told them. "I just am a little reluctant about the rest of your family as I don't know them well."

"Well, Rebekah is still out cold, as is Elijah, much thanks to Jeremy," Klaus said as he narrowed his eyes on Jeremy. "I doubt they'll rise as fast as Kol. Perhaps your blood not only transfers your gift to him, but also has healing properties for him, much like our blood does for others."

Unsure of what to make of that, she shifted uncomfortably on Kol's lap, looking at him. "I'm not a vampire. That doesn't make sense."

"It does if you're a Greek Goddess with healing powers," he smirked goofily at her. "Quick, feed Nik your blood and I'll hurt him and let's see if it works on him too!"

"Now you're being just plain stupid."

"Well, it is a possibility, after all," Klaus mused as he sipped from his blood. "Your father told me you appeared out of nowhere on his doorstep, without a note, without anything around you or on you. If it hadn't been for his weekly fishing trip he wouldn't even have noticed you because you were so quiet."

"He's the police chief, they probably just left me on his doorstep to make sure I'd be okay," Bella said dismissively.

"Then please tell me why the DNA testing he's done on you hasn't come up with any results?"

"Because my real parents aren't criminals to be in the system?" she pointed out the obvious. "Maybe a teenage couple who were in over their heads when they had me? Who knows?"

"Babies usually get abandoned in baskets, swaddled in blankets, with a note."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Not necessarily. I don't know what happened then. Clearly because I was a freaking baby, but what does it really matter now? I grew up in a safe house, ghosts aside, parents that tried hard, and although I was a little weird for them and most people around me, I think I survived it alright." She said in one breath, before adding; "I'm not a freaking Greek Goddess."

Kol pulled the scroll from underneath Bella's arm and opened it. He put his head on her shoulder and the scroll in her lap and started to read it. "This is one of those Volturi missives - I'm curious as to why it was at the Cullen House and not in Italy… it looks really old."

Klaus sipped on his blood in his tumbler, non-surplussed by that information. "If I recall correctly, the Cullen line practically worshipped the Volturi and their beliefs. If they went to their castle, it is possible that one of their ancestors could have stolen it and hid it on their property. I recall whispers of the Italian faction trying to search for an article they had lost some time in the 1600s."

Kol hummed as he continued to read. "It's in bloody vulgar Latin, give me a moment," he muttered, his other arm wrapping around Bella's waist as he read the words.

"You can read Latin?" Bella asked, slightly impressed, somewhat skeptical.

"Of course I can," he blinked at her. "Sure, it's rusty, but between all of us we speak and read about twenty odd dead languages? Not to mention, some witches I met during my travels did their magic spells in Latin, as it brought them closer to their deities."

"More gods. Joy," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "So, what does it say?"

"Well, it's origin is actually here, in the New World. A settlement in Virginia- oh bloody hell."

"That does not sound promising," Klaus muttered, narrowing his eyes on his brother. "Let me guess. Mystic Falls?"

"It doesn't say, but it does speak of a family who did something unspeakable and cursed themselves, becoming immortal."

Klaus' eyes sharply went to Bella, his natural suspicious nature rising, though he wasn't threatened by her. "Well, we know of only one tale that fits. What in the bloody hell does the Volturi want with our family? They avoided us like the plague when I sought them out."

"The Volturi have never been interested in vampires. They want immortality, but not the curse you get when you become one," Myriam replied, also very intrigued by this scroll. "Is that scroll telling their worshippers to stay away from vampires on their quest for immortality?"

"No," Kol shook his head. "In fact, that's the only mention of us on this scroll. It seems that two members of our village were Volturi worshippers, even back then, and they witnessed something the night we were turned."

"I knew it! That story I told you, it's true, isn't it?" Jeremy said excitedly.

"Shut up, Jeremy," Kol snarled. "Don't get too excited, this tells a different tale," he said as he continued to read. "After the first cry was heard coming from the home of the cursed, a band of angels came down from the Heavens to surround the house with a barrier of light - shielding the rest of the village from harm. They believed the curse was upsetting nature and tried to shield it from harm. Upon the second to last cry, a dark shadow rose up from the house and hit an angel in the chest before it bounced off, now grey in color and disappearing into the night sky. The angels left upon the last cry, with the hope that they had protected nature enough. They flew off into the sky, back to the heavens, carrying their hurt member and have never been seen again."

"Sounds like a fairy tale," Klaus shook his head. "A story they'd tell their children to feel less afraid of monsters underneath their beds. Mother would have told us if she'd seen beings around our house."

"Not everyone can see angels," Myriam pointed out. "What else does it say?"

"What does it matter?" Kol shrugged.

"If it's just a fairy tale, why did they keep it and why was Bella attracted to it?" Jeremy said, intrigued by the story. "Go on, humor us and read the rest."

Kol scowled at that. "They believe that when the dark hit the angel, something light, that it was truly a shot from hell hitting a shot of heaven; a manifestation of some sort. A birth of balance. And a different sort of immortality. The specific one that it seems their group has been searching for since learning of it."

"What? They think that this discharge actually made something? Someone?" Klaus asked surprised. "That is nonsense!"

He reread the scroll to himself silently before nodding. "Yes, they do. It's a stretch, but plausible. We know that magic, in any form, is fickle and unpredictable. If our mother truly upset the balance of nature so much, it is possible that something may have been created to help offset it."

"Isn't that what the wolves were about?" Bella asked.

"No. Werewolves existed before us. Mikael insisted on our mother doing something so that we could be stronger than them after one killed our youngest sibling," Klaus answered, his voice sharp and short tempered. "If that's the case, surely we would have come across this creation at some point in our thousand years. I've never seen or heard of anything so preposterous!"

"Exactly," Kol said with a nod. "The way they describe it, this _something_ could mean the end to us all, or-"

"Or something positive to balance your family's temperament," Myriam mused, thoughtfully staring at Bella. "Could be either side of the coin. Good, evil, ying to the yang."

"Either way, if we do come across it, we need to destroy it," Klaus said angrily. "We don't deserve to be punished for what mother has turned us into and to have this in Volturi's hands… I don't particularly like that idea, either."

Myriam shook her head. "I don't know about that," she murmured, still staring at their friend.

"Stop staring," Bella muttered.

"When were you born?" Myriam questioned, ignoring the curious and angered faces turning to her.

"I don't know, Charlie has my birthday as the day that he found me. September 13th, 1994."

"'94 was a busy year," the voodoo priestess observed. "Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and wildfires here in the States and in China, being considered among the worst ever. All four elements throwing their tantrums, then this mysterious infant appears on someone's doorstep. I'm not so sure it's all coincidence that the family is so enthralled by you _and_ I cannot find _any_ information on your past or abilities with the blood you gave me."

"There was also a solar eclipse that year, the one that the Gemini coven used to trap Kai Parker in his prison world," Jeremy added. "A lot of magic was used to create that."

"Bella is a living, breathing human. She clearly was not around a thousand years ago," Kol snapped, unsure of where Myriam was taking her ridiculous speculations.

"Maybe not in physical form," Myriam pointed out. "Didn't you say that Bella escaped to some place inside her mind that was basically your backyard when you were in Mystic Falls during that time? That she only seemed to see you? Weren't you the second to last to be killed?"

Klaus leaned forward, glancing between them. "That doesn't mean she was actually there. She could have been able to see into the past. That's not unheard of."

"So you think that we are somehow linked together? I think you need to cut back on the incense," Kol sighed, tightening his arms around Bella.

Myriam laughed at that. "No, not just you and her, but the entire family. She has darkness inside of her, we've all seen that. She can be vindictive if she wishes to be, but she chooses not to. She chose the light side of herself and she likes to help people. Dead or alive. Ever since she came here, I've noticed a significant change in Klaus' behavior and well, you made the most progress because you're spending so much time with her."

Klaus frowned slightly, looking towards their unconscious siblings. "Elijah's been more tolerant of our antics. So unlike him. I was actually wondering where the stick in his arse disappeared off to."

"The Volturi don't do fairy tale stories or mere rumors," Myriam pointed out. "They deal with facts."

"That is true. They are even more stiff and boring than Elijah. Even Finn," Kol pointed out, then turned to Bella in his arms. "Are you alright Darling?"

"Headache," she replied, slightly angered and desperately not wanting to believe that she was this _thing_. She was human, not immortal. And certainly not everyone's wishes. "I'm not what you think I am, I'm an abandoned baby with the gift of hearing the dead. Nothing more, nothing less."


	17. Chapter 16

'Lies,' Valerie's voice sounded. 'I beg of you to listen to them before-'

Bella looked around in shock. "Val? Where did you go?"

'You should go back to the Cullen House for more answers.'

"You're insane."

'Then go to Italy, seek out the Volturi, they're not as evil as the Mikaelsons tell you.'

"Who is this Val?" Myriam asked curiously. "And better yet, can any of you see her?" She asked Jeremy and Kol, even though she'd hoped that Kol had lost that ability by now.

"Eh, her spirit guide," Kol said as he looked at Bella. "What is she saying?"

"Stupid things," Bella muttered, shaking her head. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she wants me dead."

Kol had been so intent on the conversation and the speculations that he hadn't attempted to try to listen to the unseen. In fact, he tried his hardest to ignore everything around him that wasn't breathing, so he hadn't heard her friend. "What makes you think that? What does she want?"

"Oh, to go back to the Cullen House for more answers… and I told her she was insane," Bella replied as she kept looking around.

"Of course she is. That place is a death trap."

"And then she suggested to go to Italy as the Volturi aren't as bad as you say they are."

Everyone glanced at one another, tensing at the suggestion. "Now that just makes me even more distrustful of this character," Klaus muttered. "I will be the first to admit that I may exaggerate things at times, but even Elijah would object to your going there. And he's gone himself to strike deals with them in the past. It is the Volturi who are not good. I would not trust this ghostly friend of yours."

'Bella, you've heard enough. You've learned enough. It's time to come home. Your place is not with them.'

"No, something's wrong. Val's usually to be trusted, but…" Bella stood up from Kol's lap, slightly agitated as she scratched her arms, trying to focus and dig deeper into Val's essence. She had done it once before, she could do it again. "She's been with me forever, granted, she's been gone for a few years, but I wasn't my best and she got pissed off."

"Is there any possibility that she might have lead you down that path?" Kol asked, gently trying to feel out this woman. "I mean, if she was there to try to help protect and guide you, wouldn't she have warned you away from the areas that begun influencing you before those locations attached to you."

"She did, at first," Bella replied, pacing around. "But she eventually just gave up because I wouldn't listen. I told her that I wanted to be better at what I did, so why avoid the bad places?"

"You tend to be a lot like Kol here," Myriam pointed out. "Tell him not to do something and he will respond with something like - 'Hold me beer and watch this!' Any chance that by telling you _not_ to do something, would be counterproductive? Your father didn't want you to go into this field, yet you did. While we may not be happy with some locations or aspects of what you do, we wouldn't stop you. We would help you do it in the safest manner possible. Like before your next investigation, I want to find something that would work on the both of you to prevent another possession."

"Weren't those bags the whole purpose if it?" Bella asked, still trying to focus on Valerie and blinked when she finally saw her, stopping dead in her tracks and eyeing her curiously.

"It helps in some ways, but you might be forgetting that Kol is supernatural himself so not every method will work. It's a trial and error type thing to see what will," Myriam shrugged. "I was researching different amulets and totems last night. I have a couple leads but still have to get my hands on the stuff."

"Okay," Bella said, now as if she wasn't paying attention to Myriam at all. And she wasn't. Valerie was absolutely beautiful. Long, blond hair, flowing over her shoulders, blue eyes, high cheekbones and a presence that you'd see in pictures of Vikings and their wives. She looked like she could be a Mikaelson, in a way. But Valerie didn't look normal. She had bruises and welts all over and she wasn't sure if Valerie was aware that Bella was seeing her right now. "What's going on with you?" Bella asked in shock, causing Valerie to snap her head towards her in anger. "Yeah, I can see you, now let me help you."

Valerie didn't say anything, but turned around instead, showing Bella a thick, black tether to something unexplained. As she lifted the skirt of her dress, she could see shackles. 'You can't and I don't want you to,' Valerie snapped. 'I'm fine.'

"Who…?" she questioned, stepping closer.

'Use your brain, Bella,' Valerie sighed, unimpressed. 'Just think about it and add it all up.'

"I don't understand. Why is everyone so interested in me? I'm nobody."

'I can't tell you that. I'm not supposed to. It's for you to discover.'

"But who has you chained? Why for?"

'Use your brain,' Valerie growled as she toppled over in pain. 'They don't like me telling you the good things, they don't- I have to go.' Valerie shimmered out of existence and when Bella turned around to look at the Mikaelsons, she blinked at them when she could see them speak but not hear them. Kol was looking worried, and she figured that they were pulling a prank on her.

"What?" She said innocently. "I figured you wanted proof that she can be trusted so I tried really hard to see her. And I did."

Jeremy was merely smirking at her.

"What!"

"You may just have proven the validity of the scroll, Bella," he replied, still amused. "But you may want to come back to join us before Kol loses his mind."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused. "I'm right here." She said as she looped her arm through Kol's and was surprised that she didn't feel him, but he did leap nearly three feet in the air, recoiling in shock. "I'm a ghost? But I'm not dead."

"You went 'poof'," Jeremy laughed. "Which was awesome, by the way, but frankly, I don't think you should do that again. You can poof back now."

"How?"

"I don't know," Jeremy shrugged. "But hey, while you figure it out, want me to reassure them that you're still around? And shall I sketch Valerie? I saw her too, and maybe then they'll believe you."

Bella cried out in frustration and kicked against a chair, her foot going through it. "This is so not fair!"

"So," Jeremy laughed as he looked at the Mikaelsons. "Good news is is that she's still here. Bad news is, she doesn't know how to get back just yet."

Kol spun around, frustrated and concerned. "What the hell does this mean then? Is Bella immortal? I mean, I nearly killed her in Chicago because of those blasted Cullen's, and I thought I'd nearly lost her!"

"Likely," Myriam replied.

"I think she's just suffering from control issues and overstepped her boundaries, just like you… you could hold someone's hand gently, but if you didn't have control over your own actions, you could actually break it," Jeremy explained as he found a small notepad and started to sketch something. "She's not happy about it, either, trust me."

The vampire scowled at him. "It wasn't intentional and it was that or chowing down on her pretty neck which is what the attachment was trying to make me do."

He looked up at Kol and thought for a minute. "Yeah, wrong analogy, but you catch my drift, right? Learning to control your new abilities? You might overshoot when you're not in control."

"No. I do not. This isn't your art school. What the hell are you doodling now?"

"Valerie," Jeremy replied and thumbed over his shoulder. "Bella's helping me- I heard you about her hair!" He glared next to him at the empty space.

Klaus was uneasy as he watched the boy speak to an invisible Bella. "Love? It would be wonderful if you could try to figure out how to come back to our plane because I must admit this is disturbing."

"Don't you think I'm fucking trying!" Bella yelled angrily. "For fuck's sake, this isn't fun for me either! And quite upsetting and fuck, I just want… NO, Jeremy, the eyes are all wrong. God damnit, I'll fucking draw her myself if you're not doing a proper job! Tell Klaus I'm fucking trying, okay?!"

"Stop yelling!" Jeremy yelled back. "God, you're annoying."

"Bella, just relax Darling," Kol spoke calmly, looking around. "We will figure it out. This is just something really new for us and it's upsetting for everyone, and I can only begin to imagine how it is for you."

Bella tried to kick against the chair again and still failed to do so. "I fucking hate this!" She started to pace around, trying to will herself back to Kol, but nothing was happening, she felt so frustrated and annoyed with herself. She couldn't do anything right, could she? Nope, she couldn't. She couldn't keep herself safe, she couldn't keep Kol safe, she has some control over her abilities and now this. Now this whole shit about being some immortal fuck who was supposed to be balanced? She was far from balanced.

Especially right now, she was in some dark place where she couldn't talk to anyone but Jeremy and it felt cold and lonely. She would have thought that if she was with the spirits, that she'd see Myriam's prisoners, but even they weren't around. "I want to go back," she eventually whispered, holding back the tears, as she walked over to Kol to try and hug him. Her Kol. When she connected with something solid, she looked up to him and hoped that he could see her. "See me?"

"I can see you," he breathed a sigh of relief and put his arms around her. "Welcome back."

"Don't let me go," she muttered as she buried her face into his shirt. "Please don't let me go."

He held her close, pressing his lips into her hair. "I won't let you go. Don't worry. I've got you."

"So...now that we know that this whole thing isn't some fairy tale," Myriam started to speak, glaring over at Klaus. "I suggest that we put everything to rest for now and just focus on getting over this little - surprise. Practicing more on being able to see things, without um, disappearing, for instance, whenever you are willing. I have no doubt that if the Volturi have an idea of who or _what_ you are, they won't be far now that you are advancing in your abilities."

Jeremy held up his small piece of paper. "This is Valerie," he said before looking at Bella. "Don't worry, I included the shackles."

"Did you guys have another sister?" Bella asked curiously.

Klaus stood and moved over to take the paper, studying it. "We actually did, but she died before our parents moved to the new world. Esther was pregnant with Elijah if I recall and only Finn really knew her. She was only a child. I have no idea who this woman is."

"Besides, Valerie doesn't really sound like any of our names," Rebekah's voice sounded from behind them. "Thanks a lot, Kol, for snapping my neck like that. Do it again and I will gut your precious girlfriend."

"It's possible she lied about what her name is," Myriam said. "Spirits can lie very well in order to get what they want. That's why I don't listen to what most tell me."

"Me neither, but I usually sense their deceit. Valerie must be under someone else's control if she keeps giving me mixed signals," Bella replied as she looked up to Kol with a smile. "She said 'yes' to you, more like 'OMG yes! Choose him! Yes!', she wasn't wrong about that, was she?"

"No, she wasn't, but what about the other things?"

"I admit, there have been some mistakes, but why would she be all for you at first and then decide that I should leave you and join the Volturi? Something's not right. She was shackled, looked beaten and there was this black cord coming from her, attached to something I couldn't see."

"Alright, then from now on you will not listen to her, at all," Myriam said shortly. "I don't want her to influence you into making bad decisions."

Bella sighed, leaning into Kol. "I understand what you are saying, but who's to say that you guys aren't also trying to talk me into bad decisions as well? I feel like I'm being pulled in every direction, not knowing where I am supposed to be."

Myriam moved a chair over to sit in front of her. Looking up at Bella, she nodded. "You are absolutely right. You listen to everything around you, trust your feelings, the other spirits that you encounter. You can feel them and their emotions. With this tether that this girl has, it is _highly_ probable that someone very powerful is controlling her in order to get to you and that is why you really need to be able to master seeing the dead. You would be able to see if one is tied to something or not and then you can tell if you should trust what they say if you can't trust what you feel. I'm not asking you to believe everything we tell you. I'll be the first one to tell you that this family will lie and cheat with each other when it suits them or the situation at hand. We never hid that from you, but we would try to make you a stronger individual for yourself in the process of putting up with our crap."

Bella had listened to what Myriam had to say, but her head was still spinning. "I know," she said with a slight whine. "But my head feels like it's going to explode right now and I want to do something else other than having to think about what, who, where or what the fuck is going on. Something normal like napping or-"

"Dancing! Let's go visit Cami!" Myriam jumped up. "I have a great outfit for you!"

Kol snorted, shaking his head. "Well, you can't get much more normal than a hyperactive, ADHD vampire in the Mikaelson family."

"A nice stroll through a park would have sufficed," Bella frowned, looking at Myriam. "I'm good with my outfit, thanks."

"Fine, but let's go drinking. Klaus is buying."

He raised a brow. "I am?"

"I've been trying to get her drunk for the last few days, Myriam, it won't work," Kol laughed. "She's like a nun."

"So?" She stared at him, wide eyed. "Who said all the drinks were for her?"

Bella looked at Kol with a shrug. "I did promise you a peek into Drunk Bella… I think that as long as we have that angel statue with us, we should be okay…" She then let out a breath. "I think booze is exactly what I need."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled at him then. "Yeah, why not? Let's have some fun and stop thinking about what's going on!"

After getting the angel statue out of the car, they headed towards Rousseau's with the five of them; Rebekah was going to join them later. Myriam was still a bit in a mood because Bella refused to get changed into something more festive, or at least a dress to show off her figure. Bella was quiet on the way there, still trying to process or not trying to process all that they had learned that day - or the experience that she had by actually poofing out of existence. That had been strange and certainly not something she wished to repeat, no matter what.

Rousseau's was crowded when they got there, but Klaus pointed to a corner of the building near the windows that was reserved. "That's our spot, have a seat, I'll get us drinks."

"Special VIP treatment for Mikaelsons here?" Bella teased.

"Yep," Kol sighed as he slid into a chair and pulled Bella onto his lap. "We are simply that awesome."

She snuggled into him with a smile and looked over the crowd. It was a bit overwhelming with the amount of people in the place, but having the cozy corner helped ease it. Seeing Klaus at the bar, speaking to the blond working there, she leaned closer to Kol. "How's the food here? If I'm going to be drinking as much as they want, I'm going to need something decent in me so that I don't puke it all up later."

"Well, Rousseau's is something special," Kol smiled as he ran a hand through her hair. "Cami's family is Irish so they have Irish pub food, but since we're in New Orleans, they've got that kind of pub food as well, it's the perfect match."

"Fish and chips?" she asked.

"I'm sure they can make that for you, yes," he kissed the top of her head and looked over at Klaus, who nodded and ordered just that. "Of course, the best fish and chips are made in England. Oh, the old times of them serving it in newspapers… it'll sorely missed."

"Granted it was the time period, but serving food on newspaper sounds disgusting," she laughed. Looking around the bar again, she tried looking for their friend. "Um, where did Myriam disappear to?"

Kol looked up from concentrating on breathing in her scent over the rest of the humans to find the woman. "Hm, probably putting Marcel back in his place. He is a creation of Klaus' when he was bored, raised him from childhood before turning him. Myriam tolerated him but as you know, we tend to be selfish creatures and she wasn't a fan of someone else having his attention. No matter how innocent it may have been."

"What about you?" She smiled at him. "Didn't you feel like you had to compete with Marcel for your brother's attention?"

"I've had my moments," he admitted with hesitation. "Something to discuss another day, Darling."

She softly kissed him again. "I'll always give you the attention you need."

He smirked, his eyes darkening as his hand slipped down her side and over her thigh. "I will take all the attention you give," he purred, leaning in to capture her mouth in a hungry kiss, growling possessively.

"Get a room," Jeremy whined as he sat down opposite of the two horny people in front of him. "Or at least wait until I found someone to fondle."

Bella looked over her shoulder with a demure smile. "You could always go back to the Cullen house and ask for Alice."

"Ah! None of that!" Kol playfully hit her on the head. "Nope. Let's go back to kissing and ignore Gilbert."

Giggling, she turned back to him just as Klaus started heading to their table with drinks in hand and the bartender following. "How about we keep public displays of affection to a minimum since Myriam decided to take off and annoy Marcellus. I'll be stuck with you lot until she grows bored of him and finds her way back."

"And what if we get too drunk and ignore your demands, Nik?" Kol smirked as he looked around his brother. "Hey Cami!"

"Kol," the blond greeted. "Long time no see. Who's your friends? Who wanted the fish and chips?"

"That would be my princess," Kol smirked. "Cami, meet Bella, Bella, this is Cami."

"Ah, you're the one who decided it was a good idea to push Davina's buttons," Cami smiled as she set down the plate in front of the girl. "Good job, she's finally in a good headspace."

"I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought maybe if they got back together everyone would be happy," she shrugged. "I guess it worked out better for me in the end though. Thank you for the food."

"Oh, you may have done it for the wrong reasons, but it was something Davina needed to you know, work through it all, don't worry about it, there are no hard feelings from her to you," Camille kept smiling and gave her the thumbs up.

"And that's Jeremy," Kol pointed at the boy. "He's a hunter of all sorts of things that go bump."

Cami's eyes narrowed and glanced back at Klaus, having recognized the name. "The same Jeremy that…?"

"Killed Kol? Yes," Klaus nodded, an amused smile dancing on his lips.

She stood up, one hand on her hip as she looked from one person the next a couple times. "Geez. Your family just gets stranger and stranger, Klaus. I'm still trying to sort through the mess that is your girlfriend."

"Jeremy's not part of the family," he said, defensive. "He's the guard dog for Bella."

Jeremy and Bella snorted. Kol rolled his eyes. "You think it will be easy to get rid of him with everything going on? Fat chance! He's stuck with us, just as we are with him. Admit that he's less annoying than his idiot sister."

"I still haven't told Elena that I'm hanging out with you guys," Jeremy admitted. "She'll have my hide."

"She'd demand her Salvatore pets to attempt to have you admitted into an asylum for some ridiculous disorder. She's just as manipulative as her ancestors."

"Klaus," Jeremy warned him. "She's still my sister. Be nice."

Kol shook his head. "Jeremy. She's a bitch. Sister or not, she's a bitch and treats you like crap. Granted, Rebekah is no walk in the park and is a bitch as well, but on another spectrum. My sister at least owns her faults instead of passing blame onto others," he reasoned.

"I know, but she's still my sister," Jeremy reasoned.

"It's alright to be angry at someone you love for hurting you," Bella murmured. "From what I understand, she did a lot of uncalled for things against their family when they were minding their own business."

"I know that," Jeremy sighed. "But I don't like it when people talk crap about my crappy sister when I'm around."

Kol grinned. "That's fine. We complain plenty about her when we get nostalgic about Mystic Falls. Trust me that you haven't even heard the tip of what could be said. Anyway, Nik. What the hell is Myriam doing to your pet now? Did she let go of that leash some time ago?"

"Oh, to make him keep an eye out for our possible new _friends_ ," Klaus mused as he watched Bella attack her food with veracity.

Bella looked up, curious and annoyed. "What? The Volturi? You really believe they'll come here?" she asked, reaching for her drink that he'd kindly got her and took a sip. "Hey, this is good…"

"Klaus is naturally paranoid," Camille explained. "Myriam knows this, so she's anticipating his needs, nothing to worry about. And yes, that is a great drink," she smiled. "I invented it myself."

She narrowed her eyes, biting her lip as her fingers tapped on the rim. "There's no blood in it, is there?" she whispered.

Kol laughed. "Cami's human, darling, she wouldn't dare to put blood in it."

"Oh, ew, no," Cami shook her head. "So where are you from, Bella?"

"Um…" Bella glanced to the brothers. "Somewhere between heaven and hell?" she offered with a small smile and shrug, earning a scolding glance from Klaus.

"Alaska?" Cami blinked.

"Close," Kol laughed. "Washington."

"Sounds exciting. I heard Seattle is a great city," Cami offered, trying to get to know the girl.

Bella hesitated. "I was more north, towards the peninsula. It wasn't very exciting unless you were into fishing or hunting. Lots of bears and wolves."

"Oh, that sounds amazing," Cami said. "We used to go camping near Mount Olympus in the summer, quite fun."

She merely pressed her lips together and nodded, attempting to appear interested for the moment before turning back to her food. "What other drinks do you have that I can try?"

"All the drinks!" Cami smiled at her. "I can make you all the drinks, Klaus is paying, right?"

Sighing, Klaus looked away, finding Myriam dragging Marcel over by his ear. "Perhaps you should triple everyone's order. It seems to be a long night."

Bella popped a fry in her mouth as she looked at the vampire that Myriam was dragging along. "That your faux son, Klaus?"

"Yes," he sighed, watching the two. "I can only begin to wonder what he's done now to incite her wrath. I was truly hoping that we would go home with her feeling particularly frisky. It's not looking so well now."

"I'm going to give this shithead a time out in the alley," Myriam said as she came to the table, still having Marcel by the ear. "He thinks that the city's safety is none of my concern."

Kol winced, saluting the vampire. "Bad move mate. You know better than to piss that lady off. I will pray that she may be gentle with your balls. It won't go far considering she's got Nik's tied up somewhere."

Myriam shook Marcel's head. "You see that girl there? Eating her fish and chips? Which, looks delicious. Can I get another order Cami? Anyway… We're keeping this city safe for that cute, adorable and great smelling young woman. If anything happens to her, you're either going to end up dead or locked in the Garden for eternity."

Marcel frowned as he looked at Bella, who stared at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. Seeing that she appeared attached to Kol, he smirked at Myriam. "If she's involved with him, of course she would be in danger. You all tout at being the strongest, biggest and baddest. You aren't up to the ability to protect one girl?"

"Oh, we are, but we're going to need you and your minions to keep the streets safe for when we're not around her, got it?" Myriam snarled before pulling him out of the establishment and across the street to a dark alley where she snapped his neck and placed him so that he looked like a passed out drunk.

"Where is she going with him? What is she going to do?" Bella asked, staring after the two.

"Putting him in time out," Klaus shrugged. "He'll be fine. He knows better than to get her riled up."

"Now she will come back, get drunk and we all get a show," Kol added.

Bella and Jeremy were in disbelief at how unaffected the both of them were by what happened. "I take it this happens often?" he asked.

"More than I'd like to admit," Klaus sighed.

Bella downed her drink before continuing her meal, which she'd nearly finished. She needed to be unaffected by this. It was part of their life, nothing special, nothing new. Nope. She thought back to brunch and Klaus' plan for her that he hinted at. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea in this approach to get used to the amount of traumatic events that appear to be their lives. If she was going to be involved with Kol, especially if it were true that she was immortal - which she'd yet to be able to accept, she would need to get used to these behaviors soon.

"Ugh," Cami returned with more drinks. "I'll never get used to this kind of behavior. It's so wrong and stupid. Can't you solve things by talking about it like any ordinary person?"

"They aren't ordinary people though. They are vampires," she murmured, pouting as she finished her glass.

"They were human once," Cami replied, setting down another drink in front of Bella.

Rolling her eyes, Bella drank a hearty sip. "A thousand years ago. Doesn't count any longer. Besides, I think you should get a pass on questionable behavior when your own parents spend the better amount of your existence trying to kill you."

Klaus smirked as he looked at Cami. "She's as bright as you are, Cami, don't be fooled or try to dumb yourself down, she will notice."

"Was worth a try," Cami sighed as she sat back down again.

"I spent enough time in an asylum. I don't like being headfucked just as much as they don't appreciate the events they had to live through being brushed aside. Just don't attempt it," Bella warned the bartender, before quickly finishing her second drink.

Kol slipped his hand under the back of her shirt, attempting to distract her from the human. "Care to dance?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cami blinked upon hearing that, before throwing a questionable look at Kol, suspicious of the motives of the Mikaelsons now.

"Yes!" Bella said as she slid off his lap, a little unsteady on her feet as she had underestimated the alcohol in the drinks. "Ohhh, headrush!"

He grinned as he held her up to him. "Easy there. We'll just take it slow. Nothing exciting. Come now and leave the human be," he guided her away to the dance floor. "Cami - is an acquired taste, granted, but she's one of the few in this city we trust. I'm sure Klaus warned her not to go overboard when he was chatting with her at the bar."

"And yet, she did," Bella sighed, shaking her head, but regretting that motion immediately. "But the alcohol is good."

"Just as we can't stop Klaus from killing a random person that might decide to hit on Myriam, or my wanting to break every bone in someone's body should they try with you. It's our nature. You are just as emphatic and caring to everyone, even some that really haven't earned your sympathies. That's your nature," he quietly explained his reasoning in her ear, slowly dancing in place. "What I dream of seeing, one day, is you letting your dark side loose."

"Oh, but I think it needs to be kept in check," she whispered back. "If it's loose, it will likely collide with how I feel about people and if I'd do something bad, I'll feel guilty about it. A major guilt trip," she then grinned as she got even closer to him. "But who knows? Maybe my dark side will come out to play if I get really drunk."

His lips turned up in an alluring smile as his hands slipped lower on her back. "Is that so? Perhaps I should make sure that your glass is never empty."

She nodded as if she was a bobble head. "Yes. After what we've been through, I want to be blasted into space."

"I think I can arrange that," he whispered in her ear, nipping and kissing along her neck as he kept her in his arms, swaying slowly regardless of the upbeat music. "We shall give Myriam and Klaus a run for their money when I have you screaming through the walls."

"Oh," she moaned slightly at the idea of that. "Yes."

"Oh my god! Isabella?"

Bella froze and kept her head against Kol's shoulder. "Please tell me that's not a brunette woman who looks like an overaged hippie," she whispered. "Please."

Kol looked up and hummed curiously. "More blond. Bad dye job. Should give her Cami's hairdresser's number for an appointment."

Bella let out a whine. "Ignore her," she said as she held on to him.

"Wish we could, but she's heading this way. What do you want to do? I could have Klaus make a meal of the woman if you like," he offered, keeping his eyes on the approaching woman. "You've got about six seconds to decide."

Bella let out another whine and shook her head, not turning around, not doing anything. The woman would go away. If she willed it hard enough, the bitch would go away. What was she doing in New Orleans anyway?

"Oh my, Bella it is you! I couldn't believe my eyes. Charlie actually let you travel so far from home? I can't believe that he would do something so irresponsible with your issues…" the woman babbled as she reached them.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Kol asked, his arms tight around Bella.

"I could ask you the same thing, young man. Who are you, and what are you doing with my daughter?"

His eyes shot up, the previous attempts at civility gone. "I'm her other half and am taking her away from you now, seeing as she's uncomfortable by your sudden reappearance in her life," he glared at her. He didn't need to look for his brother as he could feel him making his way closer.

Reneé laughed. "Oh, dear boy, if you think you have a future with my daughter then you're mistaken, she's not right in the head, you know," she pointed out. "She shouldn't even be here without her father or that Jake boy. She can't be on her own, making decisions."

"Well as it may happen, _Jake_ up and left her in the middle of nowhere - some friend. And her father has visited her and left, satisfied that she is doing just fine. If you don't believe me, then feel free to call him up yourself. If you don't mind, we have other places to be," Kol sneered, starting to guide Bella away from her troublesome mother as his brother reached them.

"Problems love?" Klaus asked Bella, his eyes suspicious on Reneé.

"I could handle it myself but it's far too crowded in here to throw a tantrum," Bella muttered under her breath. "Oh, the things I want to say…"

"We can take her out to Myriam's alley. She won't mind," he smiled reassuringly. "Marcellus is still sleeping off his earlier confrontation so we won't be disturbed."

Bella looked up to Kol. "Can I give her a piece of my mind?"

"You could give her a piece of your fist if you like, in her irritating mouth. In fact I wholeheartedly support it," Kol grinned.

"Then Myriam's alley sounds great," Bella flashed a dark smile as they passed their table and she reached for one of the unattended drinks. She gulped it down and headed outside where the air hit her and the alcohol hit her even more. But that was fine. She was going to give that bitch a piece of her mind and then some. It wouldn't hurt to be a little bit of a bad girl, would it?


	18. Chapter 17

Klaus easily compelled Reneé to remain silent until they reached the alley, escorting her out the door as Bella and Kol followed. Bella, being Bella, slightly intoxicated required some support and assistance in her efforts to remain steady and upright. Luckily for her, Kol had no intentions of letting her go.

She could not help but blink at the slumped body of Marcel against the side of the building. Pointing at him, she looked to Klaus. "He won't wake up and give us a hard time, will he?"

"If he does, then Kol will gladly break his neck again for another nap," he smiled at her, receiving a nod. "Now, how shall we proceed to deal with this nuisance? I do recall Chief Swan admitting that she had strong armed him into sending you away. Trust that was not his desire, Love."

"I know," Bella sighed, slowly shaking her head. "Charlie's a doormat, a pushover and she," she pointed at Reneé, "had him whipped, still had him whipped after all these years. Charlie is a good guy, he truly is, he just didn't know how to break free from this woman until she did it for him," she turned into Kol and smiled up at him. "We really should go to Washington and have you meet him, properly. He'll like you because you make me happy and I'm sure that after Klaus and Myriam's… _influence_ , he'll be a lot more understanding."

"Whatever you want," Kol kissed the top of her head. "Now, what do you want to do with her?"

Bella turned around again, leaning against Kol as she looked at the woman who put her through so much hell. "I want to know what she truly thinks of me before I give her a piece of my mind," she said bravely. "Why she decided to keep me when she noticed something was _wrong_."

"Are we late?" Myriam said out of breath after having pulled Cami with her. When she saw the surprised looks on her family's faces, she shrugged. "You wanted Cami to get to know Bella, what better way is there to see her and her mom interact with each other?"

Bella looked at Myriam and Cami and then smiled widely. "Sure, why not? She serves the best drinks and I'd better get another one when we're done here!"

Cami nodded, speechless as she stared at the scene before her, the vampires had basically boxed in one of her loyal customers and Kol's new girlfriend looked so tiny amongst all of them as she leaned against him. Mommy issues or daddy issues weren't unusual to her; most of her patrons dealt with it. Spousal issues were another one high on that list, but that wasn't the case here. No, this was a family helping their newest member to deal with something and it likely wasn't good.

"So, talk, _mother,_ " Bella shot at Reneé.

"What do you want me to say, Bella?" Reneé sighed tiredly. "Are you really going to allow everyone here in the alley validate your delusions? You know what? Let me call Charlie, you need to go home, New Orleans is no place for someone like you."

"As Kol has said when we were in the bar, Charlie has seen that I'm being treated well and that he knows that I'm safe," Bella countered. She knew that it had been Klaus and Myriam's influence on him, but it counted. "They are all aware of what I can do and they are helping me."

"So you agree with me, that you're not fit to travel alone or live alone? Have you been seeing a psychiatrist? You know, it's interesting to see your videos on the youtubes? You're managing to convince so many people with your tricks, they practically worship you, that must be such a power trip for you!" Reneé then looked at Kol. "You should run while you still can. She claims to see things that aren't possible, escapes the house on random occasions under the guise of people needing her help," she then chuckled. "She's violent when she doesn't get her way."

"All I hear are the rambles of a sceptic," Kol replied. If it hadn't been for Bella holding on to him, he would have attacked the woman right there and then. "You do realize that you've ruined a young girl's life, don't you?"

"Ruined?" Reneé laughed. "Ruined? We gave her everything she needed! We went into debt by having her seen by all those specialists, if it hadn't been for us, she'd have been in that mental hospital sooner! She was uncontrollable, fits of rage, out on different hours of the night - even as a small child, mind you, and crying and such a wild imagination! We couldn't be seen with her in public because she'd cry or walk up to random people making them angry or cry. We did everything we could!"

Kol growled lowly. "Did the thought ever cross your mind to have her introduced to the local shaman from the tribe?"

"Look, I get it that we're in New Orleans, the city that's supposedly the central of magic and things that go bump in the night, but please, it's not real," Reneé scoffed, crossing her arms over each other. "The Native Americans in Forks - I don't know what they're smoking, but it's a part of their lives. We allowed your friendship with Jake because he was the first real boy you talked to."

"Jake was an asshole," Bella flatly spoke, completely stupefied by her mother's words. She knew her mother to be cold and naive, but to be this cruel?

"Now, don't talk about him like that, he's the reason you were allowed to travel," Reneé said patronizingly.

"And he bailed on me when I could have used a friend the most. Kol and his family have been more supportive than he's ever been. More than you ever were. I don't know why I ever considered you my mother," Bella started, tired of hearing Reneé speak. "In the last two weeks, they've done more for me than you can ever imagine. They understand what it's like living with something beyond your control and they've been trying to help me find more control over it. I mean… instead of doing everything in your power to help me, you only did one thing; you brought me to shrinks. Had me committed when I was fifteen. Mom, I was 15! I was so scared all the time even before that, because I didn't understand what was going on! I was 15 when I started to experience something so scary that it physically hurt me and all you did was take me to my shrinks who told you that they couldn't do anything for me but to declare an emergency and have me committed asap after drugging me so I would stop screaming. You left me all alone in a different place, surrounded by scary people, alive and dead, where they were testing me and giving me drugs and put me under and giving me shocks to try to jolt my brain into normalcy. Whenever I brought up what I experienced, they shoved more drugs at me. I was hit by fellow patients. I was fifteen!" She held on to Kol, fighting the urge to start walking because she would fall flat on her face. "And then I realized, I needed to act normal to get out of that shit hole because nobody could help me! Nobody! I had to learn everything myself because you didn't allow yourself to open yourself up to the possibility that _maybe_ something was going on that couldn't be explained by your fancy doctors. That _maybe_ everything I was experiencing was the truth. Do you have any idea what you put me through? What you made me feel like?!" Bella breezed, feeling anger bubble underneath her skin. "Oh, I know you wanted a perfect little daughter who would grow up to be just like you, but instead you got me. I fought you, I snuck out and I physically attacked you because I couldn't explain what the fuck was going on! And you locked me away! Abandoned me!"

"Bella, you're being overly dramatic," Reneé chided her. "Calm down."

"Calm down!" Bella scoffed, letting go of Kol and walked to Reneé in a straight line, feeling the energy build and build inside of her. "Do you have any idea what kind of a shitty and fucked up week I've had this past week? We figured out that I ruined myself because of you. Because you put me away and made me destroy parts of me. That I _can_ see spirits and not just hear them. That I can do stuff like closing portals or hell, even become some sort of spirit myself and poof out of existence, do you have any idea how scary it is but that I should have had the proper guidance when I was growing up? Not this late? On top of that, Kol, Jeremy and I got attacked at a very fucked up haunted house where I nearly died because something evil took control over my other half and we found something that quite possibly is the truth too, that I'm not human to begin with! And guess what? These people don't judge! They know what I can do is real and don't think I'm crazy! They don't want me to stop doing what I do, despite my own fears of ridicule or more danger, because it's a part of me and they accept that!"

"I accept you, baby," Reneé spoke quietly, looking at her daughter who looked more like a berserker right now. A tiny berserker. "It's happening again, isn't it? Come here, I'll take care of you."

Bella let out a cry of frustration and placed her hands on her mother's shoulders as a wave of energy rolled off of her, all of her pent up emotions from the last 24 years rolling off of her, away. All the feelings, all the fear, all the hurt, the pain, the confusion, the agony, the rejection, every single thing. "If only you had believed me," Bella sobbed as she stumbled back. "I might have been a better person."

Reneé rolled her eyes as she took her daughter by the arm. "Come on now Bella. A better person? What babble are you going on about now? You wouldn't hurt a fly. Let's go get you on a plane back to your father before you continue embarrassing yourself."

All the vampires, and Cami, looked at each other in confusion as to what just had happened; they had sensed a wave of emotions hitting them, shaking them up from the inside and the woman wasn't affected at all?

"Let go of me," Bella said, still sobbing as she pulled her arm away from Reneé. "Neither you, or Charlie, are no longer in control over my life. I am. I'm a grown woman and I'm right where I belong."

"Clearly these people are just as crazy as you if they are willing to put up with your antics! I'm your mother and you will do as I tell you now let's go, Isabella!"

"She said no," Kol growled as he protectively put his arms around Bella, turning her into him. Oh, he wanted to tear out the woman's throat so bad right now, but despite everything, he didn't want to do that in front of Bella. He wanted to really go to town with this woman, making her cry and run - he always loved a good chase.

Klaus moved to separate the women, his patience, too, wearing thin. His eyes remaining on Reneé as he spoke to Bella, his voice tense with anger, "Bella. You know how we handle our enemies. If you want me to handle this, say the word but know there is no turning back. You do not deserve this treatment."

"How about Myriam and Cami take Bella inside and we do what we do best, Niklaus?" Kol said, his eyes levelling on Reneé, his true face itching to come out and play. "What say you, Bella? If even Nik feels this way about this woman…"

Bella took a deep breath and nodded. Klaus had kept Charlie alive because he was a good man. Reneé wasn't a good person. "Have fun," she said softly before walking over to Myriam and looping her arm through hers. "Can I get drunk off my ass now?"

"Yup," Myriam smiled happily. "I still need to catch up anyhow. Cami needs to bring over pitchers of her special cocktail for us. Extra strong."

"Ohh, yes!" Bella said as she looked at Cami. "Puleeze?"

"Yeah, you deserve it," Cami replied as she followed Myriam and Bella and as soon as they stepped away, she could hear Klaus and Kol snarl at the woman. "I'll even have them make more finger food in the kitchen. You're one brave woman, Bella, I applaud you." She was opposed to killing people. But these were vampires and they were protecting one of their own. The woman was a straight up bitch, anyway. She recognized parts of Bella's story as one of the case files she had been told to study when she studied to become a psychologist, and knowing what was in those files, she truly felt for the girl. She had proven that she could speak to the dead, even have a huge amount of empathy. "But uh… just so that we're clear on this, Myriam… I wasn't the only one who felt that ripple, right?"

"Ah, afraid not, Cami," Myriam smiled at her. "I think our little girl is finally embracing every part of her and is growing into her powers."

"What did I do?" Bella asked shocked.

"You shared your emotional baggage with us, but that's alright, you needed to get it out," Myriam replied and opened the door for Bella to enter the bar again. She wished that she could join Klaus and Kol on their little hunting party, because that's what they liked, to give chase and mess with their prey, but Bella needed to be taken care of while the boys played. "We'll have to add that ability to the ever growing list."

By the time Klaus and Kol returned to Rousseau's, both in new clean t-shirts, Bella and Myriam had already made their way through one pitcher of Cami's special drink and a platter of chicken wings. Jeremy hadn't joined them in the alley and wasn't around anymore, it was likely he found someone to have some fun with himself. "Kol!" Bella smiled widely as she kept herself seated, but stretched out her arms to him.

He failed to hold in a smile as he held reached for her, settling in beside her. "You look to be having a lovely time. Hope you haven't been having too much fun with me."

Myriam cheered at the return of the boys. "You're back! Whoot! Time to dance! She can't stand anymore so I'm off…" she said as she took off for the crowd, but not before laying a wet kiss on Bella's cheek as she passed.

Bella let out a giggle and sighed happily upon seeing him up close. "I have to warn you about something…" she said as she stared at him, trying to focus on her thoughts. "Oh, I can't stand on my feet anymore."

"Myriam just said that," he let out a snort and took a sip of her drink, the alcohol content was quite potent. "I think Cami's trying to poison you."

"Nooooo," she shook her head as she ruffled his hair. "Have I ever told you how lucky I feel for you having chosen me?"

Kol hummed, pretending to think. "I can't say you have, but why would you say that? I like to think I'm the lucky one. Now that the evil witch is done and gone, Nik and I do have to talk to Elijah when we get home, sorry to say, about this. We will let him handle the cleanup for us."

"Shh," Bella put a finger on his lips. "No thinking. Fun." She then pointed to her glass. "Have a drink." Giggling, she gestured towards the crowd and the windows. "Myriam stole the angel from my pocket, but even the spirits are giving up on me because I'm too drunk to help, they're moping and want you to make me sober but I told them to fuck off and they're moping because I told them that."

Kol looked around, grateful to have a reprieve from her blood at having to deal with the dead. "Well, they will be sorely disappointed to know that I don't plan on you being sober until well into tomorrow. Even then, I have many plans in store for you."

"Yay," Bella giggled as she tried to stand up. "But we do need to do one good deed, one. Only one because the girl could get hurt," she held up her finger. "One. And you need to do it because I'm drunk and not uhh… believable. Pretty sure you can just make it go away by telling the guy to fuck off and the girl safe. One. Please? She could get hurt."

"Alright," Kol laughed and helped her to sit down again. "Just sit and point at the people you're talking about."

"That redhead girl's brother is telling me that the guy she's with now, has been trying to get into her pants all night, but he's really bad and will do bad things to her," she pointed at them. "Maybe even worse than bad things."

"Compel the bloke and be done with it," Klaus voiced, breaking his silence as his eyes remained fixed on Myriam who just climbed up on the bar.

"Don't be silly," Bella giggled. "I can't compel anyone."

"Kol can. Although…" he trailed off, glancing at her curiously. Considering what they had learned, it may not be entirely outside her abilities to control one's mind.

Bella's eyes grew big when she saw Myriam on the bar, and then an annoyed looking Cami coming over with a new pitcher. But her eyes were drawn to the couple she had told Kol about and felt something was off, perhaps even more dire than she originally believed. "Ohhh… wait…" She poofed out of existence.

"Klaus, your girlfriend is on the bar again," she said as she put the dirty glasses and plates onto a tray. "Where did Bella go?"

"Oh bloody hell," Kol growled as he looked around to see if Gilbert was around, but he couldn't pick up his scent. "It's one of her new abilities that she showed this morning… Bella? Where are you?"

"Right here!" A guy - the guy she had pointed out to him - waved at Kol with a smile on his face. "I'll be right back," he said to him as he walked out the door, hailed a taxi and got in. A fully solid Bella remained on the sidewalk, looking slightly confused as she checked herself over before stumbling back into Rousseau's.

Klaus sat there, staring at his brother's supernatural girlfriend, in shock and disbelief. He absolutely had no words as he had wondered if she might be capable of something in the lines of possession, and it was something he would solidly draw a line with her. When she stumbled her way back to the table, he cocked his head to the side appearing both proud and irritated. "Nice parlor trick however if you ever try that on me, I will have Myriam try you up with her ancestors one way or another."

"I don't think I'll ever do that again," Bella shuddered, seemingly having sobered up somewhat. "What was that, even?"

"Some sort of possession ability, quite freaky," Kol laughed as he pulled her into his arms. "Warn me next time?"

"It's not going to happen again," Bella said determined. "That guy was gross. Ew. I was inside a bad guy and he felt gross! I need a drink."

"It's a good offensive strategy, Love," Klaus pointed out. "Don't immediately dismiss it. Coming against a group like the Volturi, it would be good use for infiltration of their group."

"We should definitely keep you drunk for a few days just to see what pops up," Kol smirked as he kissed the top of her head. "Long enough until you feel safe to be as relaxed as you are right now."

"I'm always relaxed," Bella said as she poured herself a drink from the pitcher and filled Kol's glass. "And I've lost my buzz."

Klaus snorted as he raised his glass to pass her his bourbon. "Perhaps when my brother has you under him in his bed, you are. This is the most I've seen you at ease since I've met you."

Bella pushed the bottle of bourbon towards him and took a sip of her own drink. "You know what? Now that I'm somewhat more able to stand on my feet…" she flashed a grin to Kol. "I might join Myriam on that bar!"

"Oh, no," Cami said, shaking her head. "I allow Myriam because she's a vampire and she's careful, you… no. You will knock everything off."

"Oh, come on!" Bella whined.

Kol grabbed the bottle of bourbon and took a few large gulps; it took a lot for vampires to get drunk, but he wanted to create the illusion that he was slightly buzzed, for Bella. "Let's go dancing on the dancefloor, my beautiful Goddess."

"Yes!" Bella giggled as she allowed herself to be pulled along through the crowd.

Sighing, Klaus shook his head as he watched the two take off. Turning to their friend, he smiled at Cami, appearing as innocent as he never claimed to be. "How are you tonight? Myriam behaving herself?"

"Yeah, actually, I'm surprised that she is," Cami said as she sat down next to him and pulled Bella's glass towards her. "And I'm fine, thank you, still reeling a bit from what happened in the alley."

"Water under the bridge as far as Bella is concerned," he waved it off. "She does not need to know just what her mother's role was in town. We had not discovered it until just before she was finally dead."

"Oh, I'm not talking about that bitch of a mother, more Bella… she's extraordinary," Cami replied, shaking her head. "But what did you discover? Now I'm intrigued."

Sighing, Klaus looked to the dance floor to find Kol glancing his way and moving Bella further away from their corner. "As it happens, Reneé has now left a widower on the New Orleans city council. She appeared to marry up from Chief Swan from a small town in the middle of nowhere. He may or may not know about the supernatural influences in town."

"Oh," Cami blinked. "Elijah's going to be pissed."

"This will be his problem to help in resolving her past."

She took a sip of the cocktail and sighed. "The woman deserved everything you did to her. As I listened to Bella's story and how the woman treated her, I realized that Bella's case was a case study for me in school," she said quietly. "I mean, the whole case was a train wreck, but to know that it had been real?"

Klaus looked up at her. He was not pleased to hear that she was familiar with Bella's case and that it had been a teaching point for others. "Don't let her know that. Kol will tell her if the need arises. But, she is something unequivocally unique that can't be classified by your science or our magic."

Cami nodded. "Her secret's safe with me, you know that," she replied, taking another sip. "She's adorable." She looked to the door as it opened and sighed. "I think he knows what happened to the council man's wife," she nodded towards Elijah. The vampire did not look happy at all.

"Not now, Elijah," klaus sighed as his brother zeroed in on him. "Not here," he added, his gaze lowering on him.

Ignoring the plight of his younger brother, he spoke up; "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Yes," Klaus replied evenly. "Rid the world of the evil that has plagued Bella's life since she was found by her and her then husband."

"Her new husband is high up the food chain in the city council, I have had many dealings with the man and he's unable to be compelled because he's a witch. This will not be easy on all of us, Niklaus."

"Fascinating!" There had been seriously something wrong with the woman then, if she lived with a witch and still ignored the supernatural around her.

"He could make it really difficult for us."

"Not here, Elijah, our newest family member is having fun and I do not want her evening even further disrupted by politics or fights. She's had enough drama today."

Elijah pursed his lips. "This cannot wait."

"Yes, it can," Klaus countered, seeing Kol and Bella return to the table for more drinks. "Done dancing already?"

"No," Bella shook her head as she smiled at Elijah before refilling her glass and downing it in one go. "Blame Cami for this deliciousness, I love it," she said with a slight giggle as Kol poured himself a bourbon.

"Who pissed in your blood, Elijah?" Kol quipped.

"You and Niklaus, who else?"

"Hey now!" Kol said defensively. "None of that here, we're going to dance the night away." He downed his glass and pulled Bella back with him to the dance floor before she could start asking questions.

And he felt fortunate that Bella didn't have vampire hearing; at least not that he knew of. Klaus had been right in his reaction to Bella's latest show of abilities - it seemed a lot like possession indeed, and in the wrong hands, it could be incredibly dangerous. Bella was lucky that she ended up with them, with the ones she had a connection to, instead of being found by the Volturi. There was no saying what they'd do to and with her.

And he loved her nonetheless. Even if she had been an ordinary immortal and nothing more. She had him wrapped around her little finger and he loved it. Loved her. She was his counterbalance, she kept him grounded and, this was even stranger, he loved her more than he loved himself, more than he valued his own life.

She said she was the lucky one? No, he was.

Drunk Bella was so much fun, it made her forget that she had to control herself, to keep a lid on things. Her fear was gone, or at least severely diminished.

They danced until deep in the night, until even Cami had enough and kicked them out. Since it was a nice night out, he took her to one of the nicest places he knew; a roof with a clear view of the stars where they danced some more. When the sun came up, he took her back to the compound and they slept off the alcohol until well into the next day.

It took a few more days for the negative effects of the Cullen House to get out of their bodies, but once Myriam gave them a clean bill of health, Bella and Kol went back to their apartment. Bella didn't show anymore abilities, mainly because she feared what she could do - still, after everything they'd been through, but she was a lot more at ease after her confrontation with Reneé, a lot happier, a lot less as if the world was on her shoulders.

She felt comfortable enough to record a few voiceovers for the videos on the Cullen House for her youtube channel so Jeremy could line them up to upload and post at specific dates.

And after a day of cleaning up the apartment and putting away some of their stuff, Kol had enough. "Hey, Bella?"

"Yes?" She looked up from her laptop where she was reading a website she frequented.

"Let's go to the Sanatorium and get you familiar with seeing spirits," before she could open her mouth, he spoke again. "We know you can do it. It's just your fear that's holding you back, but there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm with you and you have the power to tell those spirits to fuck off and to leave you alone when it gets too much. I'd rather have you in control over your abilities than to have them happen on random, such as the possession thing you did at Rousseau's? We need to train your abilities."

Bella groaned, knowing he was right. "Fine, but not the Sanatorium, please," she said as she closed her laptop. "We could ask Myriam if we can borrow her spirits at the compound, there aren't a lot of them that she keeps around."

"Really?" He was surprised that she agreed with this, if he had known she'd agree, he would have asked her sooner.

"Yeah," she nodded with a smile. "I think I'm ready. I feel more comfortable in my skin than ever and wow… I think I can actually do it. Baby steps, yeah?"

"Yeah," he smiled at her as he pulled her to her feet. "Let's do this."

For the next week they had fun with Myriam's spirits while Jeremy occasionally participated in the test to see if Bella wasn't actually cheating, and she wasn't. She was fully committed to learning - again - to see spirits and to have fun with it.

It was on the final day of this practise, that was no longer a practise, more like muscle memory, Valerie showed up again, briefly throwing Bella off guard because up until now it had just been Myriam's toys, and Valerie once again didn't make a lot of sense. Bella told her that she couldn't rely on her anymore and wasn't quite sure where that'd leave the two of them. Bella wanted to help her, but it wasn't safe. While it was likely that the Volturi had control over her, Bella wasn't strong and confident enough to take them on, even with the help from the Mikaelsons.

It hurt her heart, but for now, it was best that Bella kept on working on improving herself so that she could help Valerie if she truly needed her help. Bella felt recognition and surprise coming from Valerie, a gratitude, while her face told a different story. Yes. Valerie was in trouble.

One step at a time. She couldn't help Valerie now, but soon.


	19. Chapter 18 (new version)

**Author's Note: I'm stupid and uploaded the wrong chapter last time. Whoopsie. Here you go. Here's the real chapter 18! - Buggy**

* * *

After Jeremy put up the first five minute video of their adventure in the Cullen House, Bella's email inbox exploded with emails from a slew of media outlets and the 'professionals' on TV. Jeremy had done a damn good job with the video and audio and it ended right on the stairs after Jasper's full body apparition. Of course people were impressed and sceptical at the same time.

She replied to each and every one of them with the same standard letter that she had written so many years ago stating that she appreciated the attention, but that she wasn't going to make any appearances on TV. At the end of the letter she provided the link - with a watermark - to the raw footage of Jasper's apparition. It was real; there had been no tricks, no vampire talk and thus it was safe to share and for people to tear it apart and see if it was doctored or not.

Bella was impressed by the information that Jeremy had found about Jasper Whitlock and his family - a family of great wealth who could pull the Cullens out of the swamp after they had had a few scandals, hence the marriage to Alice Cullen. Jeremy told a great story, all based on facts, and with a promise of more of that story to come in a couple of weeks.

She had seen Reneé's obituary. It was hard to miss, really. Apparently she had whored herself out to a rich dude on the city council and became his wife. Somehow, Bella wasn't surprised by that fact. Reneé only wanted the best for herself and that had never been Charlie, especially after they had found Bella. She didn't feel anything for seeing in writing that Kol and Klaus had indeed killed her mother. Instead, she went out to buy them both some nice bourbon - even though they had plenty at the Compound - and thanked them, before apologizing to Elijah, realizing how much he had to clean up.

After she had done her paperwork, Kol surprised her with a trip on a steamboat along the Mississippi river. He admitted yet again that New Orleans wasn't one of his favourite cities, mainly because this was Klaus and Elijah's city and not his, but there were some good things about the city, such as the steamboat trip. They had lunch while a Jazz band played and they moved over the water.

He then took her to an animal rescue center to play with the animals for a bit. Everyone loved puppies, even him. Kol had tried to make sure that they were going to places where Bella would not encounter a lot of spirits; even with her closing, she was never fully closed. She had forgone on the angel statue, because she felt stronger, more confident and more at ease now that she had more time to get used to the amount of spirits hanging around in New Orleans.

They went shopping on the farmer's market and then went back to the apartment, where he shooed her into the living room and he started to cook them a meal. Bella loved his cooking and he was surprised by that. Granted, he wasn't a bad cook. Despite everything, he was fairly certain he was better at cooking than Rebekah. Of course, it also gave him the opportunity to slip a little of his own blood inside the food, just in case. His blood seemed to make Bella stronger, too, just like her blood had an effect on him.

Bella was whistling innocently while he was cooking, and when he looked over to her, she had closed some of the curtains and had undressed herself, in the middle of the living room, looking delicious as she draped herself on the couch. She had been doing that ever since they had returned home from their stay at the Compound, telling him that she felt comfortable in their own home, it was just him and her, and clothes were optional.

And that they were.

He'd created a monster, but he was very happy about that.

Bella had confided in him that ever since she left Forks, she'd never had a house. Always lived in hotels or on other people's sofa's or sometimes even on the streets, with Jake as her protector. She'd never been able to establish herself as a real, adult person. Established. Comfortable. Happy. And most importantly, she was comfortable with him.

"I had a great day," she smiled up at him from her position on the couch. "Thank you."

"Well, you didn't have to undress yourself to properly thank me, darling," Kol winked at her from his position in the kitchen. "But I do have to admit, I like what I'm seeing."

"Look in the fridge," she giggled and lazily pointed at it.

"Are you going to distract me from cooking?" He asked playfully, turning off all of the hobs he was using and checked the fridge. "What am I looking for?"

"You'll see it."

They had gone shopping together so whatever it was, she must have hid the item from him previously and only know brought it out. Or, she had an accomplice called Myriam. "Oh," he responded excitedly as he grabbed the can of whipped cream. "Dessert before dinner? I likey!"

~o.O.o~

After a nice, relaxing weekend, they resumed Bella's training under Klaus' watchful eye. Even Jeremy was present to try and keep track of Bella as Kol wanted her to become incorporeal like a ghost; a feat that she had done the previous week when she reached out to Valerie. Not only was it a good offense, but for Jeremy and Kol it was the best defense for her.

Bella was in good spirits the entire time - no pun intended, but she had a harder time mastering the coming back part. The first day she wasn't able to come back at all, and she'd been forced to haunt the Compound as she couldn't even get in the apartment, much to her own dismay, but Myriam told her to have fun with it and spook random people walking around in Bourbon Street. She had even made it as far as Rousseau's and poked Cami a few times, moved some bottles around.

Kol wasn't too happy about the fact that he couldn't see his own girlfriend and had to rely on Jeremy, but Bella was being taught a valuable lesson; even though you're failing at something, doesn't mean that it can't be fun.

Luckily, she managed to find her way back the next day before breakfast.

By the end of the week, she had learned how to control her ability. Kol was amazed by how graceful she was with her new abilities and how confident. She was growing as a person and he loved how she was blossoming.

It was Saturday morning when they were woken up by loud banging on the door. "Kol! You bloody wanker! You better grant me access to your apartment because I want to hang out with your girlfriend!"

"Is that Rebekah?" Bella asked sleepily as she rolled herself deeper into the sheets.

"Yes," Kol groaned as he got out of bed, threw on some pants and headed down the stairs to open the door for his sister. "The answer is no."

"But Myriam has access."

"Yes, she does."

"I'm your bloody sister."

"Bella's tired after a week's hard work on her abilities."

"Either you're going to send her out, or you're inviting me in," Rebekah said, crossing her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes on her brother. "Please Kol?" She asked sweetly. "I want to have some bonding time with our new sister, I promise I won't break her."

Kol ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I'll ask her."

"Good, because I think she's up for some girl time, she's been hanging around with you lot the entire time!"

He lowered his gaze on her. "I'll ask and I'll text you her answer, shoo," Kol said as he closed the door, headed back upstairs and crawled back into bed with his girlfriend. "She wants a girl day with you."

"What does that mean?"

"Bonding," he smirked as he nuzzled her neck. "Manipedi's, spa day… clothes shopping… food… She'll likely be a bitch to you the entire time, but that's my sister. Her heart is in the right place."

"What do you think I should do?" Bella asked as she turned around to face him.

"Could be fun," he shrugged before softly kissing her. "Myriam's on a completely different wavelength than you and Rebekah… well I suppose she's a lot like me. You'll never know what to expect with her."

Bella thought about it for a moment and slowly nodded. "Jeremy's going to upload the next video of our little adventure today. I'll handle the emails tonight when I get back," she ran her hand through his hair and smiled. "You can do guy stuff today."

"Ha!" Kol let out a snort. He was likely going to scour the internet on the whispers that Jeremy told him about on how Edward Cullen was making the activity in his house worse to attract more people to it for investigations. He might even make a quick trip to Chicago to compel the crap out of the bastard to destroy the house and then to kill himself or something, but he knew that was against Bella's wishes. Kol wouldn't do that - but he couldn't help but fantasize about it, and that was allowed, wasn't it? "You really want to spend time with Rebekah?"

"Of course," she smiled at him. "She's your sister, why wouldn't I want to spend time with her?"

"Well, it's likely she'll make you do girly things."

"I can be girly, I'm a girl," she said as she untangled herself from Kol and the sheets. "In fact, it's good that she's a girly girl - I've been meaning to go out and buy some things," Bella hinted as she headed into the bathroom to clean herself up and get dressed.

Kol was surprised to hear that. For the last few weeks, the only things Bella had bought were food items or sanitary items, for her to state that she wanted to buy 'some things', was something completely new. "Such as?" He blinked when she emerged from the bathroom wearing the dress that they had bought weeks ago. Kol hadn't seen her wear it before apart from the fitting chambers and now he regretted Bella's girl day with his sister. "Wow."

"I want to get to know your sister better, become friends with her. I mean… I've never had that. The only friends I had were Jake and a bunch of dead people," she said as she brushed her hair. "And now, I have this amazing boyfriend who has this huge family and his younger sister sounds like a hoot. It would be so nice to have a friend who is a girl and do girl things with. I've never had that before."

"Are you absolutely sure about going out?"

"Kol, I'll be fine. We've been working on my abilities for the last few weeks and I actually feel stronger," she said with a slight giggle as she put her brush down and walked over to him to kiss him. "I'm feeling as if I'm truly living for the first time."

"But-"

"Rebekah is your sister. I'm sure I'll be safe and if not, we'll call you," she kissed him again before she picked up her backpack. "I'll be home before dinner."

Kol sighed as he fell back onto the bed, hearing Bella leave. He was happy for her that she found a smidgen of adventure inside of herself, a confidence that she previously didn't own, but she was also in danger of overdoing things. Weekends were supposed to be for relaxation, not to deal with his wonderful bitchy sister. Rebekah wouldn't harm her, no, because Kol actually liked Bella. And yes, bonding experiences were nice.

Stop fretting, he told himself and decided to play on the X-box. Yep. He was going to follow Bella's idea of doing guy stuff and hopefully get his mind off of Cullen, too. Texting Jeremy, he got out of bed, grabbed himself a blood bag and turned his entertainment set on. He was going to kick Jeremy's ass.

 _Give me some time. Elena has Damon checking up on me through the game now._ ~J

Kol scowled. _Invite me into the game. Let's have a party and kick his ass._

 _You sure you want that? It might give them open invitation to come down here and give us hell._ ~J

 _They don't know you're in NOLA, right?_

 _They had Matt use his resources to track me so yeah. It's a big town, lots of people. Mardi Gras dude._ ~J

 _Fine. Text me when you're ready, I'm just going to do solo play for now. Bella is out with the sister._

 _Did you feed Bells drugs or something? R will eat her alive._ ~J

 _She promised me to be kind and Bella was… damn. Hot. Uh, up for a girl day._

 _TMI dude. Go clean yourself up and let me finish dealing with Bozo Salvatore._ ~J

 _Do declare open season. If they come to town, we're going to have a hunting party and I'm sure Nik would love to join!_

 _Not to mention his crazy hottie girl. I'd like to see her go up against this dumbass._ ~J

 _On second thought… don't invite them. Don't want Bella to be all nice and kind and try to kumbajah us all together._

 _It could be entertaining knowing that he would likely bolt at the first sign of that. Imagine if you all were actually being civil to them. She could ghost them out of town._ ~J

 _The possibilities are endless. Deal with the idiot. I'll… wait._

 _Go bother your family. They are just across the street. I'm sure Elijah would be up for some harassment._ ~J

After picking up a Po-Boy for breakfast, Bella followed Rebekah to wherever she wanted to go. She had left the angel statue at home, mainly because she had gotten used to the amount of spirits and energy in the city by now and was no longer fearful of it. "So what's the plan?" Bella asked before biting another bite off of her sandwich.

"I was thinking that we could do some retail therapy," Rebekah replied with a shrug. "Go to the French Market and see where we'll end up?"

"Oh, I haven't been there yet," she replied.

Rebekah looked at her curious and appalled. "You've been living in New Orleans with my brother for how long and you still have yet to truly see the city? What is he doing with you? Nevermind. Don't answer that."

"Oh, I've seen plenty of the city, last week he took me on a Mississippi boat cruise that lasted two hours and we've been to other places. Before I met your brother, I spent a lot of time around the hotel I was staying at," Bella replied with half a shrug. "There are certain places he wants me to avoid."

"Like what?"

"Jackson Square."

"Oh, well, that's a pity," Rebekah sighed as she pointed ahead of them. "It's right over there, I suppose we'll have to go a different way…"

Bella smirked as she looked at Rebekah. "I never said I agreed with him."

The vampire's lips pulled back into a smile as her blue eyes twinkled in the sunlight. "I do believe that we will get along just swell. Now, Bella," she said as she looped her arm with the girl's and started walking in the direction of the square and glancing at shop windows as they passed. "Just how are things going with my brother?"

"Great!" Bella replied. "I just have to talk to him about his little snoring problem."

"Why do you think that Nik boxed him so often? It wasn't only because of his habit for creating trouble wherever we were. He just got on his or Elijah's nerves with that."

"Oh, it's not that bad," Bella said dismissively. "I'm usually too tired to even notice, but it occasionally jolts me out of my sleep, I actually think it's adorable how he tries to mow down entire forests in his sleep."

Rebekah was thoughtful as she looked at her again. "You may be the only woman in the world that may think that. Sometimes I wanted to smother him with his pillow, if only it would have worked at the time."

"I've dealt with worse; I mean, I stayed in hotels with walls as thin as paper," she said a little bit distracted as they passed the square on their right hand. The square looked amazing, a lot of happy tourists walking around from one end to another. There were artists painting their portraits and she could see Klaus having been one of them at some point, but looking closely, Bella could see shimmers of residual hauntings and some ghosts who never moved on, looking pretty much emaciated and beaten. "Oh, I can see now why they wanted me to avoid this place."

Looking around, seeing only humans and the occasional vampire going about their business, Rebekah frowned. "Is it really that bad?"

Bella hummed as they kept walking. "There are some soldiers roaming around, unaware that they're dead, trying to get the attention of the living. You might have experienced some poking while walking across the park," she revealed. "Then there's another layer of combat, quite later, I think. I see some battered slaves, some still in chains," she pointed to a specific area in the park from where they were. "There were gallows there, a lot of slaves and criminals were hanged…" she shuddered then as she saw one going down and jerk around until his neck was fully broken. "Klaus and Elijah are there, too, as residuals, looking quite content with themselves as they watch some deaths."

Rebekah nodded, her eyes glancing around. "I would not doubt it. My family played a large hand with events over many years here. Although, I doubt Nik, or even Kol, really hid themselves from you so you can't be that surprised by what you may discover."

"Oh, I'm not. Not now, anyway, but I can see why they wouldn't want me _on_ the square. I don't fancy that either, if I have to be honest," she said with a slight laugh. "I think it was the first or second day after I met Kol that I asked him about your family's dealings in New Orleans, how long you have been here, because I was well aware of your lifespan."

"Yes, Nik and Myriam did tell the details to me about your trip to the hospital. For my participation against my brother, I am sorry and do have regrets. I was angry and hurt by his overbearing nature that I needed to be free by any means necessary. Of course, at the time, I did not know if one of our family died, then so would their line of vampires created from their blood. I would have only ended up alone and miserable when it came down to Marcel dying," she sighed, pointing in the direction she'd like to go. "There are some nice shops down here. I think I need to buy some new clothes to feel better."

Bella let out a snort. "The way I see it, the family is stuck in an endless cycle of paranoia, betrayal and violence, but you all love each other so much and I think that does count for something. The gift of forgiveness," she said as she followed Rebekah around the corner before she was being stopped by a force. "Hey, not now. I'm only observing," she said as she held up her hands.

Rebekah stopped short and turned to her. Seeing no one immediately around them, she rolled her eyes. "If the ghosts are bothering you, they can go see Ann, the tea shop owner. She has some special skills that may help," she smirked. "Have them tell her that Myriam says _hello_!"

"Stop picking on Ann," Bella laughed. "Hold on, I think this spirit wants me to see something important, it's only a short walk, care for a small detour before we go shopping? Otherwise I think that we may not get any rest."

"Sure. Why not?" she agreed. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know yet," Bella smirked as she pointed to the ghost. "We're following Lawrence here. He's looking like he's from the early 1800's and he didn't have anything to do with the hangings at the square."

Rebekah hesitated, recalling the time period herself before nodding. "You are aware that a lot of things happened in New Orleans around that time? Aside from the events here?"

"Kol told me bits and pieces, not a lot, but he told me you'd been infatuated by the governor's son!" Bella smiled at her. "How was that?"

"Of course he did," she huffed. "Doesn't matter. Klaus still killed him, despite the boy's heart being pure. It did lead to bringing Marcel into the family though. Only causing trouble in other areas," she muttered. "Perhaps I should take you to meet him. I think he would like you."

"I have a feeling that Kol doesn't like Marcel much," Bella replied as they continued their walk. "Every time his name dropped in the last two weeks, he scowled and threw a tantrum when we were home. Kol's still afraid that Marcel is being treated better than he is as a full blooded Mikaelson."

"That's nonsense! Kol is more our brother than Marcel ever would be. It's not like I'm looking to my brothers for a romantic relationship, but Kol was always like that even before Marcel was even conceived. He simply does not like being a vampire as much as the rest of us accepted it. He was a practicing witch when we were human and resented the fact that he lost that," Rebekah admitted in her own views of her youngest brother's behavior. "I won't deny that there may be factors from the time with Marcel that could have gone differently, but he brought on a lot of his trouble himself too."

"Oh, I have no doubt," Bella giggled. "Kol's quite the handful at times, which makes life so much more fun, though." They stopped at an empty lot not far from where Rebekah had wanted to go and she was greeted by about twenty lost souls. The residual energy showed the bare bones of a former building, with more people walking around in there, and it looked quite strange. "Huh," she said as she tried to hone into what the people were feeling. Afraid. Sad. Confused.

Rebekah sighed. She knew exactly where they were, and even though she had seen Bella do her magic before, she didn't want to say anything about this plot as she was curious as to how good Bella actually was. "What do you see?"

"Give me a second to make sense of -" Bella saw skidmarks of Kol and Klaus running around in the transparent building, laughing, playing, toying with their victims. Innocent people. There was a sense of frenzy coming off of Kol, anger, disappointment, but mostly vengeful. Klaus was merely along for the ride, being swooped up in Kol's energy but no doubt it had been Klaus' idea, Bella figured that much. There was blood all over the place, Bella could taste it in her mouth and it made her feel a bit nauseous. "Uh… wow."

This had been the first time she had truly connected with something Kol had been responsible for, and it was quite overwhelming. Bella knew that he wasn't an angel and he even told her so herself. He also told her that he had been quite out of control at times due to his control issues - those issues didn't particularly stuck to merely his blood lust, either. When she listened to the spirits, telling her the same story she had just seen, she grabbed hold of Rebekah as it was quite overwhelming to try and differentiate between everyone while she used all of her senses.

"Kol got the blame for this massacre, didn't he?" Bella eventually said once the spirits shut up.

"It wasn't one of his brightest ideas," Rebekah murmured, holding her up.

"It wasn't his idea, period," Bella replied, shaking her head. "I feel that Klaus was disappointed about something and released Kol to have some fun and they ended up here."

"Elijah had taken an interest in Marcel. They did tell you that Nik looked to raise him like a son? Myriam wasn't very helpful in keeping the two under control."

"Uh, you wouldn't be able to keep the two of them under control when they feel this chaotic," Bella pointed out before she addressed herself to the spirits. "You're free to go, don't linger here as it's not good for you, go to the light where you will be loved and reunited with your loved ones. It's okay. I'm sorry you were subjected to the whims of vampires and I'm sure that at least one of them is remorseful."

Rebekah let out a snort. "It was more like she wouldn't even try to talk my brother down. She had no interest at all. She seemed to agree with them and their tantrum over Elijah wanting to take over Marcel's education. Mind you, I was busy doing other things in town, but I remember her warning Elijah that his meddling would result in something terrible. They boxed Kol then, but it wasn't until after the events in the early 1900s, when he was running around with the witches, plotting on killing Nik that she truly began campaigning for his release. You would think she'd want him out of the way for trying to kill her lover, no? She believed that she could help him learn control and other things."

As Bella watched the spirits disappear, she kept listening to Rebekah. "I think that it was a lesson he needed to learn himself, not to be taught by others, but it's nice that Myriam decided to be such a campaigner for him," she let out a deep breath as she lessened her grip on Rebekah, feeling the peace return to the land as the last spirit fizzled out. "They're at peace now, understanding what happened. Victims of circumstances. Still not cool, but oh well," Bella then looked up to her. "Shopping."

"That's it? Just like that?" Rebekah questioned, staring at her, then the empty lot. "I should seriously bring you with me to some of my old spots and see what you learn."

Bella shrugged. "Some places are easier than others, as it turns out, these people were dirt poor and didn't have a great life anyway. I never really move spirits on unless they want to, and these people merely needed some guidance," she then laughed. "A few years ago I spent a couple of days in a former old people's care home because this asshole wanted to move on but was being stubborn about it. Had to really use some psychology there because he didn't even allow me to leave! Jake kept bringing me food and water to keep me going and I slept for a few hours at a time."

Bella followed Rebekah back to the open air French Market. "Of course, now I know I can move them on with force, but still, I wouldn't do that unless it's absolutely necessary. Sometimes it's better for a place to be a little bit haunted to stay healthy or the building is beyond saving and they're not harming anyone. Everyone deserves to be at rest, though. It's not as if I'm keeping it from them."

Rebekah hummed and nodded. "You're quite something, Bella, I have to give you that."

"So I've heard many times before, now can we go shopping now? I've been wanting to buy some _underwear_ for a while now but Kol never likes it when I go out by myself to buy something to surprise him with."

"Well you can't get that at the French Market," Rebekah countered, rethinking her options. "Let's go somewhere else. Let's get a drink while I arrange an Uber for us!" She pulled Bella along with her, humming happily to herself. "I'm in need for something new as well and I want a few new items of clothing, some of the clothes I have are so last year."

They were finishing off their glass of wine before a very expensive looking car arrived for them. "What?" Rebekah said impishly. "It'll only be 20 dollars for our trip and we deserve some luxury! And, he can wait for us and get more money out of it because us Mikaelsons tip generously as well and you know what? Let's have him drive us around wherever we want to!"

They went to a bona fide sex shop with bright lights, not seedy looking at all, but they also had the best lingerie department - according to Rebekah anyway. Bella wasn't too sure of that, she didn't see anything that she liked or thought she'd like. Kol would definitely like it, she was sure of that, but she wouldn't feel too comfortable.

When Rebekah saw that the lingerie wasn't something for Bella, she decided to ask her some questions. "You must have some steamy dreams now that you're with my brother," she said as she looked over some sex toys. Bella hardly dared to look at them, which was cute. "Care to share?"

"No!" Bella gasped as she looked at Rebekah. "That's- I don't even share them with Kol!"

"Let me guess…" Rebekah said as she looked at Bella, took her in, really in, and it made Bella squirm underneath her gaze. "Nothing too kinky, you don't like to get hurt… my guess is that you dream of being tied up and not being able to move as my brother has his way with you. How far off am I?"

Bella blinked at her. Rebekah wasn't that far off, at all.

"My brother has quite the ferocious appetite, he gets bored easily."

Bella furiously blushed. "I had him play around with some whipped cream last week."

"Goodie!" Rebekah said excitedly before she reached for a package and handed it to Bella. "This will be fun for you two."

Bella read what was on the package; bed spreader restraint system. The girl on the package was even showing it off and there was no way that Bella could be as sexy as that.

"Trust me, it's safer than allowing Kol to toy with some ropes," Rebekah winked at her. "Go pay for it, I'll be right behind you and then we'll go to Victoria's Secret."

After shopping for some lingerie, Bella finally found some nice little sets, they went for lunch while their Uber driver was still waiting for them. She still couldn't believe that she had bought something for her and Kol to enjoy, even had it wrapped for Kol as a present, but it was something she'd never thought of buying and she knew Rebekah knew that, too.

Lunch was delicious; they were sitting on a patio looking out over the river and the watery winter sun was caressing their skin. "Oh, wow!"

Bella's head jerked up when she heard the voice from their table.

"Yes, can we help you?" Rebekah said, straightening herself as she eyed the small group of people around them.

"New Orleans is a big city and we never imagined running into you, Bella, but wow, you're actually here!"

"Oh great," Rebekah sighed. "Groupies."

Bella cringed a little, glancing to her friend in apology. "It happens sometimes," she whispered. Smiling at her apparent fans, she tried to be diplomatic and polite. "Yes. It's me, but I am trying to have lunch with my friend and have a normal day out. Maybe we will run into each other on another day."

"Yes! Of course!" the girl replied, a broad smile on her face. "We just wanted to tell you how awesome you are and that we're great fans of yours."

"Um, thank you," she nodded, feeling uncomfortable by the attention. "Perhaps you'd like to know, that we are planning on releasing more footage soon. I expect an update on the channel in the next few days."

"Awesome! That full bodied apparition of that ghost was just amazing!" The girl giggled and then got pulled away by her friends. "Thank you for your time, please never stop what you're doing, bye!"

"Bye," Bella echoed, waving to them as they left. Turning back to Rebekah, she sighed. "Sorry. That does happen sometimes when I'm in areas like this. Normally I get food close to my hotel and hide there until the investigations and then move on."

Rebekah hummed. "Did you tell Kol about this? Because he'll want to instruct you on how to dodge prying eyes before coming home to him as a mass of people waiting outside your home is… well, quite hampering to your life. Not to mention that of the family."

"No," Bella sighed, realizing that that could indeed happen. "But I will, I promise."


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's Note:** Before you say: "But this was chapter 18!", you're correct. That was because Buggy made a boo-boo uploading and had to upload the real chapter 18 instead of this chapter, the true chapter 19. Go back to read chapter 18, Bella's day out with Rebekah! And uhh... I'll upload chapter 20 in Friday, deal? Sorry for the booboo!

* * *

"I'm home!" Bella called as she walked into the door after saying goodbye to Rebekah. After their lunch they had shopped at some clothing stores and Bella spent far too much money on clothes and other items she needed, but if she was to make New Orleans her new home, with Kol and his family, then she needed her clothes. Something told her that Charlie wasn't going to send her her old clothes, anyway. Bella barely made it up the stairs before Kol swooped her up and carried her upstairs. "Kol!" she laughed.

"What? I figured you were tired of walking, I'm merely being courteous," he smiled at her before setting her down in their latest addition to the apartment, a comfortable loveseat type of chair where she could hang around in. He had seen her hang on his sofa in the past few weeks, but it never looked comfortable. So he bought them a loveseat. Big enough for one, not big enough for two, but big enough if you wanted to cuddle.

Kol had rearranged some of the furniture in the living room and it looked more like a living room now rather than a single guy's flat. Granted, he only had the one sofa before, with a coffee table. Now there was a loveseat too. And it was very comfortable. His brother Nik accused him of being broody or having nesting issues, which Kol firmly denied. He needed a loveseat, period.

"Oh, I'm liking this chair," Bella grinned as she rid herself of her backpack and pulled him in for a kiss. "Did you have a fun afternoon?"

"I was bored out of my mind," Kol pouted. "Jeremy wasn't available to play a game with and after teaming up with some losers I got annoyed, so I went shopping for groceries and this chair. I couldn't find you or my sister and to call you and ask you where you were might have been slightly over dramatic and stalkery but you spent nearly seven hours alone with my sister, Bella, who knows what could have happened?"

She snorted as she pulled him closer onto the chair and snuggled up against him. "Is this better now?" She asked as she ran her hand through his hair.

"Yes," he muttered as his hand on her upper thigh slid inwards underneath her skirt. "And you should wear dresses more often."

"It's a good thing that I bought a few new ones then," she softly kissed him as she pointed at her bag. "Take a look, I bought a few exciting things."

He was tempted, but he was also curious as to how her day went. She seemed to be in one piece, slightly exhausted but that could have been Rebekah's influence on her. He could detect a stronger scent of the river on her though, and he didn't like that in one bit. "You went to the river side?"

"We had lunch looking out over the river," Bella said nodding. "Great food, great view and apart from some people who follow me on youtube, very uneventful."

"But?"

"There's no but," she smiled at him, softly kissing his lips as his hand slid closer to her core. "We did some shopping and came straight home."

He narrowed his eyes on her. "You're not telling me everything, what happened this morning?"

Bella sighed. "Rebekah wanted to go to the French Market so we walked by Jackson Square, which is fine, because I told her you didn't want me to go there, and I decided to ignore it. And it was fine. Nothing happened. I didn't set a foot on Jackson Square and I didn't get overwhelmed."

"Really?"

"Ask Rebekah, I behaved like a model citizen," she smiled at him before moving a little so she was more comfortable and he had more access to her. Although she feared that what she was going to say next was going to ruin the mood he was in. "Even when another spirit demanded my attention. Rebekah was so gracious to allow me to help this poor guy and others who died around the same time as him. He brought us to a now empty lot, but I noticed that there once had been a building and I saw you and Klaus having fun in there."

Kol felt the color drain from his face. "You didn't-"

"Relax," she said, turning his face back to hers. "I don't judge you for that. I'm well aware that I'm bound to run into messes that your family has created in New Orleans when it comes to the body count. That's alright. And I wasn't appalled by your actions, Kol," she softly kissed him. "I was there to help the spirits and I did, you'll be happy to know that most of them had already moved on on their own, the others needed some validation and then I helped them on. It was peaceful and respectful."

"I don't want you to see me like that."

"Why not? It's a part of you and I appreciate and accept all of you. Even that part of you who has control issues," she then huffed. "If you ask me, it was Klaus' fault anyway. Not yours. He merely took advantage of your ability to have some good old fun because he was butthurt by Elijah's actions with Marcel." She kissed him again, pressing her body against his. "You should know by now that I'm not afraid of you and that I'll never think any less of you, no matter what happens or what I'll see when I come across something of your past. Even if you'd do something like that in present times, I'll be right with you."

"You're foolish, you know that?"

Bella hummed as she nodded. "But I'm your fool, as you are mine."

"And I still believe that I'm the lucky one here," he sighed as he kissed her, hard, before realizing something. He was met with a groan when he broke off the kiss, but smiled widely at her. "You ventured out in the world with all of your abilities that we've been working with the last two weeks and you used them. I'm so proud of you."

"Shut up and continue to kiss me," she giggled as she kissed him again.

"No," he laughed as he moved away from her and pointed at her bag. "Show me what you bought."

"That can wait," Bella pulled him back towards her.

Kol snorted as he grabbed her bag and sprinted out of her reach before he started to unpack her bag. "Dress… dress… ohh… very short dress… cleavage!" He said as he threw the dresses over the back of the sofa. "Victoria's Secret?" His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at her before throwing her new lingerie onto the sofa as well. And then, there was a packaged box at the bottom of her bag. "What's that?"

"Your present," Bella smiled as she got off the chair, getting slightly nervous now. That present could either be a hit or a definite miss, and if it was a miss, she was going to blame Rebekah. In anticipation for his reaction, she was already wearing a new set of lingerie - mainly because Rebekah was appalled by her 'generic' underwear and had basically ripped it off of her to destroy it.

"Oh, you're excited for this one," he cooed as he got the package out of her bag and placed her bag onto the sofa next to her lingerie. "I think I'll keep it wrapped for now and place it…" Kol looked around and headed over to the kitchen island. "Right here." He placed it down and looked at her with a smirk on his face. "Thank you for my lovely present, darling," he eventually said, he could smell her arousal from where he was standing. "I'll bet that every time you see this you'll get this excited."

"That's not fair."

"It's my present," Kol huffed. "I can do whatever I want with it!"

"But I bought it for you!"

"Yes, and I love it, thank you!" Kol walked over to her and put his arms around her. "You didn't have to buy me a present, you know. It's been a long time since someone bought me a present," he nuzzled her neck as he breathed in her scent. "I wonder what's in it…" He tugged on her dress and caught a glimpse of her new lingerie underneath it. "Ohhhh… I get to unwrap another present?"

Bella gave him the same smirk he usually reserved for her. Reaching up and resting her arms over his shoulders, she shook her head. "Sorry. You can't have one without the other, so you'll have to wait to unwrap me. Besides, I thought you were going to spend time with your family or Jeremy. What happened?"

"As I said, Jeremy didn't have time to play a game and I didn't really want to feel like a bother to my family. I got bored, did groceries, bought us that chair," he said as he was tugging on her dress to have a peek at her new lingerie. "I went on the internet and read all the comments underneath the Cullen House videos Jer has posted so far, followed up on some rumors…" Kol nuzzled her neck again. "Would you like to play at the Sanatorium tonight? Hone your new abilities even further?"

"I thought you wanted to unwrap me?"

"Yes, but that means I'll have to unwrap that present of yours too, but I'd rather see you squirm a little more with it on the counter," he smirked and softly kissed her. "What do you say? Impromptu visit? Call Jeremy and ask to meet us there?"

Bella let out a whine. "I've been out all day, can't we stay inside? Have some nice food and relax? Play a videogame?"

Kol groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Bella… I want to go out!"

"We can go out for dinner?" She smiled brightly and pulled him closer to kiss him again. "And we could do a live stream for my viewers? Answer some questions?"

"In the Sanatorium?"

"Here," she laughed and hit him on the head. "I doubt we could ever do a live stream at a location due to high internet streaming costs and no way to edit out your and Jeremy's superpowers."

"Oh darling, you know money is not an issue," Ideas were now popping up in his head. "Never say never!"

"No," Bella shook her head laughing. "Never ever are we going to do an investigation live. That would just be ridiculous and pretty much over the top."

"Hmm," Kol said as he looked at her and took out his phone. "Dinner, what are you in the mood for?"

She scowled, but was happy that Kol had given up on going out for the night. She wanted to be home, recharge and have some fun with Kol, in any shape or form. While he ordered food, she got out of the comfy chair and started to clean up her newly acquired clothes and underwear, trying to ignore the package on the counter.

Once everything was in its place, she sent out a tweet that she was going to do a live Q and A that evening and that questions were welcome. In no time, her phone was blowing up so she muted it until further notice. She poured Kol something to drink and got a soda herself and joined him on the new chair as they waited for their food to arrive. "We can do the Sanatorium tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yes," she smiled at him. "I'm curious to see what that room looks like from their end."

"Awesome," he softly kissed her as he took her phone and started to read the replies she got from her tweet. "You're not going to answer all of them, are you?"

"Oh, hell no," she shifted a little so she could watch along. "I tend to avoid the really personal questions. I'm open about a lot of things, but some things it's none of their business. I think that most questions will be about you and Jeremy and the Cullen House."

"I'm not going to be doing that video with you."

"I didn't think you would," she softly kissed him. "You can ask me the questions off camera."

"Are you sure about that?" He teased her as he put the phone on the table and put his arms around her. "What if I start asking you really naughty questions, such as… Can I see what's underneath that dress of yours?"

"Kol."

"We could make our own sex tape and call it… Divine Pornography."

"Kol!"

"Release it on some porn site…" he mused, amused by the sour look that Bella shot him.

"Kol!" Before he could open his mouth to speak again, she continued. "If you're going to be an ass about it, I'll ask Jeremy."

Kol pouted. "I was just having some fun at your expense." He was saved by the bell because she looked unamused as hell. He darted down the stairs to fetch the food and quickly plated everything up so they could eat. After dinner, he loaded up the dishwasher while Bella was setting up for her live video, making sure that nothing of personal nature was in the field of view.

Was he feeling sorry that he and Jeremy had taken away the editing of her videos from her? Not in the slightest. Bella knew what she was doing, but she had more time for herself now, and all the research and all came down to him and Jeremy. All he wanted was to make life easier for her and make her happy. And it looked like she was very happy.

He couldn't wait to fully start exploring her abilities, yes she had grown a lot and learned to work with her new abilities, but that was in the safety of the courtyard with controllable spirits thanks to the voodoo priestess. He also couldn't wait to find out more about what she was exactly, but knew that for that answer, it was likely they'd have to take another trip into her mind and now that she was stronger, it may not be as accommodating as the first time.

Bella was humming to herself and slightly bouncing on her feet as she headed to the kitchen to fetch herself a glass of water. She didn't have anywhere else to go, or to use her abilities that night, so why wasn't she drinking alcohol? "Darling, we do have some excellent choices of wine."

"I know that," she smiled at him. "But that doesn't mean that I have to drink it. I like water, soda. Alcohol is for when you go out to dinner or when you've had a really crappy day."

"Or when you're a vampire trying to curb the hunger."

Bella shrugged. "Ever tried taking a sandwich instead?"

"Funny."

She let out a slight giggle as she settled in front of her laptop. "Ready?"

Kol nodded as he sat down in the new chair and put his feet up on the table, relaxing as he fiddled with her phone, listening to her words as she greeted those who were showing up, and once they became too many for her to individually greet, she started to talk about other stuff, even quickly looking for the last youtube video uploaded so she wouldn't accidentally spoil things for her fans.

He knew which one was the last one, it was the one where Bella closed a portal after he and her were thrown across that room. Certainly that would get a lot of questions. He was going to try to keep those kind of questions to a minimum, mainly because _he_ wasn't over the whole experience yet. It was still mind boggling how easy it had been for him to be possessed like that; that he hadn't been strong enough. Maybe he needed some training with Myriam's spirits.

"Ready for your first question?"

"Yes!" Bella beamed at him before looking back at her laptop. "Kol's so kind to read some of your questions to me, how awesome is that?"

"Merely doing it because you're lazy," he countered playfully. "Alright, this question is from Marcy who's wondering what your abilities are, after watching the latest video we've uploaded."

"Oh, nice question!" Bella cheered. "Uhm, well, as you all can probably tell, my abilities seem to be evolving right now, but the basis is that I can speak to the dead, hear them talk to me or communicate with them telepathically. I can feel what they're feeling if I allow myself to, I usually rely on that feeling to guide me. An old ability of mine, where I can see glimpses of the past or how they are now, has resurfaced and honestly, it's quite scary! However, now that I'm working with Kol and Jeremy, I have become stronger and a little bit more careful."

"Did you know you could close portals?"

"I still don't know if I can close portals," Bella laughed. "That was an accident and it's likely that it's still there."

"That's debatable, but you already said you weren't going back," Kol pointed out playfully.

"No, _we_ are not going back there. Ever."

"This question is from Mariska; would you ever consider doing a reading for a person?"

"I've been asked this a lot, and I'll say it again; I'd never do a reading for a living person because I'm not made for that. Uh… it requires to have severe people skills that I don't own and I'm happy with the way I do things. I like to tell stories, stories of people long forgotten, and hopefully make things a little bit better for them, maybe even move them on if they need some help."

It was quiet for a few moments, which had Bella look over to Kol. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," he muttered. "Just a couple of hundred questions if we could get Jeremy to show up with his shirt off…"

"Oh, don't say that too loud," Bella laughed. "Because he might actually do show up!"

"Ah, here's a good question," Kol said with a lazy smirk on his face. "How much different is it to work with your new guys compared to the old one? It's from Alice."

"Oh, entirely," Bella huffed. "Nothing against Jake, absolutely nothing, but Kol and Jeremy both have experience with the paranormal and it's fun to learn from them. They're both very worried about my safety, hence why I was tethered to Kol at the Cullen house because as you all know, I do have a tendency to toddle off. We were at the Sanatorium, and you won't see this footage because we can't validate the story, but while Kol and Jeremy were distracted by some ghosts, my attention was drawn away from them and I walked off. I was safe, but the both of them nearly got heart attacks."

"You'll never be untied ever again, by the way. The Cullen House wasn't just a one off thing with you being tied to me."

Bella eyed the package on the counter and flushed beet red. "You have no idea."

"Ohhhh," Kol cooed upon seeing her reaction to his words and then looking at the package. What on Earth did she buy him? "Shellie's wondering why you're doing what you're doing. Why you're using your abilities the way you're using them. Have you lost someone?"

"No, I didn't lose someone," Bella smiled. "The spirits would never leave me alone, not until I'd listened to their stories and told those stories to my family or wrote them down. And sometimes, they're just lonely. Not ready to move on but lonely and they need someone to talk to. Just like the living. It's hard to ignore when someone's in pain or sad."

Kol laughed then. "Jasmine is wondering if we are dating and if I could show my face."

Bella gasped then, mock shocked. "That's a personal question for one, and I won't answer that, and when I took on Kol as my cameraman, he clearly stated that he's just that, the camera man. Out of view. I think we all should respect that. Although he does have a very handsome face."

"Patricia is wondering why we went to the Cullen House in the first place. Jeremy never explained that in the first video."

"We were asked to investigate it by its current owner Edward after the property was empty and abandoned for quite some time. There's a legend about the house, that it houses a secret, but nobody has been able to find it yet and the ghosts make sure that nobody ever will," Bella replied calmly as a shudder ran down her spine. "Now, I've read some of your concerns about the house and its inhabitants. I also know that there have been multiple investigations by many different people since we've been there because Mr. Cullen won't give up on his quest. Let me tell you what I told Mr. Cullen. The house needs to be either left alone or torn down. Forget about the legend. The spirits there are very unhappy and will do anything to keep us out. Of course, with so much activity, it's also the most popular thing to be investigating these days. You're playing with your life if you go there because they are capable of killing and it's not just spirits that roam that house."

"Did you ever see the mud Edward Cullen was slinging at you online?"

"I did, and that was a direct result of him lashing out at me for not being able to give him what he wanted; validation of the legend, and for blatantly rejecting him when he tried to flirt with me," she replied in kindness. "I'm sure Mr. Cullen will find someone amazing, but I don't date clients."

Kol laughed then. "Come on, you really don't have a meanstreak?"

"I don't bad mouth clients, now do you have another question for me?"

"Hmm…" Kol eyed her curiously before looking back at the phone. He didn't like most questions, and likely it were questions she had answered previously as well. "Tracy asks if you have any other talents they should be aware of, outside the paranormal gifts you have. Do you sing? Write? Draw?"

"All horribly," Bella laughed. "I'm a pretty decent cook, though. I love to cook when I'm not too tired or too lazy."

"Her lasagna is absolutely to die for," Kol agreed. "You should share the recipe on your blog."

"I might," she grinned and waved at her laptop. "That's it for now, we've had a long day and I thought it'd be fun to check in with you guys for a little while. Keep your eyes on my channel to find a new video of our trip to the Cullen House - mind you, we had to edit some shots heavily because of either personal information of something happening that we just can't show on youtube. Or on television."

"Hold on," Kol said as he shifted a little as this question kept popping up and unnerving him. "You've been asked this question before in many other ways, but now that Drew's appearing in our videos, will you consider appearing on his show now?"

"Drew keeps trying to get me on his show. I get offers from other ghost hunting or supernatural shows, even invitations to conventions, but I'm not going to. I do what I do and how I do it. It doesn't usually compute with the energy of the others or how they do their things. I am not a science project. Only to myself to improve and learn new things. They are all good at what they do, don't get me wrong. It's just that… I'm not made for TV. Producers usually want to use things I don't want people to see," she took a deep breath. "Having said that, under the right circumstances, I _might_ return the favor to Drew some day. Might. This is not a blanket 'yes', if the circumstances are right, and I get time to think about it, then I might. And he knows this. But I can always say no, too."

"If it were up to me, you wouldn't even think about it. No."

"It's a matter of honor, I guess," Bella shrugged. "So, that's all for now, have a good night and don't forget to check underneath your beds, there might be something hiding there," she winked before disconnecting and closing her laptop. "Done."

"Good, can we go out now? Sanatorium?" He said a little impatient. "Let's just go out and play with the ghosts or…"

"Take me to a movie?"


	21. Chapter 20

"Okay, so you're going to see everyone, okay?" Jeremy said as they were standing in front of the Sanatorium, gearing up with their cameras. "Do things we've practised over the last few weeks, everything we can't use, we'll edit out."

"We've been over this," Bella replied, slightly nervous as she fidgeted with her flashlight after turning on her recorder and putting it on her backpack. While she had used her abilities somewhat before, even on her day out with Rebekah, this was going to be more difficult. Kol and Jeremy wanted her to try _everything_ , which included using all of her senses. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, the emotions. And they were going to start in the room she'd been in before.

She felt a little apprehensive, although she'd become stronger and was more in control over things. Bella wasn't entirely complete and there were still many answers still to find, but she was doing this because both Kol and Jeremy made her excited about this. She was ready, and she was the only one holding herself back, afraid of what she'd see.

According to her friend Astaria, the spirits could look quite different in mental asylums. Bella knew this. While Kol's apartment was supposed to be void of bad dreams, Bella had a nightmare the night before, although it could possibly have been a memory, of her own time in one of these facilities and what she saw. The dead. How terrible some looked, some had even turned even into bonafide Frankenstein monsters.

She wasn't afraid of monsters, or perhaps she was, despite having accepted the true face of a vampire that easily when she met Kol and his family. It was a part of them. No, it was when the emotions and the energy matched the monster that she was afraid. But she needed to have the fear. She needed to experience the fear because what if they'd go to another place like the Cullen House? What if what she'd see there, what Kol saw, what Jeremy possibly saw, and it'd freak her out? Make her lose control?

No, going to the sanatorium was a good idea. And the feeling of Kol clipping the leash through the belt loop on her jeans was a good idea too, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Ah, back to earth."

"Thanks," she muttered as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before deciding to check over the contents of her backpack again. This was the first time they went somewhere after the Cullen House and after practising with Myriam's ghosts. The encounters she had with Rebekah were normal compared to actually going somewhere with purpose. Energies had already attacked Kol and Jeremy in this place and she needed to be sure she had everything on her.

Kol's dagger was in a handy place, easy to grab should they need it, but she really wished they wouldn't have to use it on him. She stuffed some vervain in her back pocket before looking up to him, apologetically. Kol had fed properly and had received a blessing from Myriam, but that didn't mean that it would stop strong entities from taking him over.

Bella said that she never would, but she honed in on his deeper emotions and all she felt was the same apprehension and fear as she felt. The 'what if' feeling. What if the same thing happened here? She got to her feet and gently rubbed his arm. "This is not the Cullen House. We're prepared now."

"Yeah, get back on that horse," Jeremy grinned as he checked his camera. "Come on."

Protection mantra wouldn't work. It never worked, but it had been something Bella did anyway to make herself feel better and the people with her safe, but they all knew better now. She scooped her camera off the floor and put a hand on the door, taking a deep breath as she allowed herself to see, feel and hear everything. She could feel the energy pass right through her, enveloping her, sending tiny sparks over her skin, igniting every follicle. When she opened the boarded up door, she was greeted by a lot of spirits in the reception area, they merely shuffled along, looked up for a moment and continued to shuffle. Some even still with their IV's attached. Or with an axe in their skull.

Kol was wondering why Bella wasn't moving. "Bella?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute here," she said in barely a whisper before taking a deep breath and stepped inside, sticking to the wall closest to the door as she made her way to the room they'd been in before. However, before she turned into the corridor, she turned around to face the entrance. "I'm Nurse Bella and I'm telling you all to go back to your rooms, someone will be with you shortly, you're mucking up the reception area," she said slightly irritated, but surprised that everyone started to move and do as they were told. "Oh, that's definitely better."

"We're not going to do every single room tonight," Kol warned her.

"No, but I needed the entrance cleared," she responded simply before turning into the corridor where she saw the large beam hanging from the ceiling. "Hey look, it's your friend the beam."

"Very funny."

'You're back,' a voice spoke before the body came into focus, emerging from the wall. 'And you can see me.'

"Yeah, I can see you," Bella said as she focused on the man in front of her. He was tall, perhaps a little bit taller than Kol was. Dark hair, beard and he was wearing a nurse's uniform. "You were a nurse here?"

^Orderly^

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized. "Your name is Derek, isn't it? You were here the first time," she continued before she saw the dark aura around the ghost that he was trying so hard to keep away from her. "Yeah, buddy, you're bad news. Go away."

It was fascinating to see how easy it was for Bella to fall back into her habits. She'd been scared before, he could tell by how fast her heart had been beating, but once she was dealing with the spirits, she was fearless, which, in turn, made him feel a bit more at ease, too. However, her new found self confidence could get her and them in trouble, couldn't it? "What do you see?"

"Dark aura, he's trying to hide it," she explained. "But if he's just bad news. Not bad bad. He doesn't want to be evil," Bella continued as she tried to make sense of Derek's emotions. "He was a bad boy, he didn't even work in this facility but was put here as a punishment, that's my guess."

"That doesn't make sense," Kol huffed.

Bella turned to him with a smile. "You know how all the girls like the bad boys? Like… in the old days they'd be like… James Dean or The Fonz from Happy Days."

"Right…"

"That's Derek. He likely did something shitty for him to be put here though," she turned back to Derek and cocked her head. "Can I try something on you, Derek?"

'What do you mean?'

"I won't hurt you, I promise, but since you're actually here and talking, I want to try something on you. Maybe get rid of that dark thing, help you move on."

'You can do that? I mean, you said so last time, but I couldn't.' There was hope in his voice, and his emotional state shifted as well. Bella knew he was ready. Whatever he was put in here for by whomever, he had done his penance.

Bella carefully reached out with her hand, focussing on bumping the dark away from him with her energy, feeling the discharge in her fingertips and the dark crumbled to the floor. She slightly jumped back when Derek transformed into a werewolf, only briefly to flex his muscles, a loud roar coming out of his mouth, and she could tell that both Jeremy and Kol heard this too.

'Thank you,' Derek said as he was back to his human appearance. 'I ate a few witches in my day and they killed me, put me in here. I am sorry for what I did and I want to thank you for bringing peace to me, Bella,' he replied before he poofed out of existence.

"Oh, that was awesome!" Bella cheered as she turned around to look at the stunned faces of her two boys. "What?"

"Wolf?" Jeremy questioned.

"Yep," Bella said with a slight giggle as euphoria washed over her, the good vibes that Derek had showered her with upon leaving. "Nommed on witches, he said. They put him in here," she continued before focusing on the room next to her, the room where she knew that held at least twenty spirits, including Anna, who couldn't speak and was left here after her parents died. The room where she had felt uncomfortable. The energy coming from that room already feeling dense, almost as if it was pulling her in, but she didn't allow it to. She only stepped inside when she was a bit more comfortable. "We've been in this room the first time we were here," she said as she shone her flashlight around, unnecessary now that she could see the spectral images, but it was good for the views.

She didn't seem to see Anna and was happy to know that she moved on, but there were certainly more than twenty spirits in the room. However, everyone was still talking at the same time, and upon noticing Bella, they turned to her, talking gibberish. There were men, women of all ages, some in the state they were in when they died, others showing her the version of who they wanted to be in life. But they were all patients, that much was clear. She could feel how lost and alone they were. The confusion, and the realisation that Bella was likely there to help them, but communication wasn't going to happen.

They didn't understand much, and she had already established that, but the emotions, the grief and loss, the loneliness were affecting her badly. It didn't help that she was now seeing them, too, and merely looking at their state made her want to move them on. But she wasn't sure how. "They didn't understand me the last time when I told them they could go," Bella said as she started to walk through the room, her arms spread to her side, her fingertips touching the shoulders of the people inside, jolting them into moving on. "I'm helping a little bit, they can't stay here."

"You can't move on everybody in this place, Bella," Jeremy warned her. "It'll drain you immensely, and it's not what you do."

"No, I like to tell stories. Make the spirits feel better by interacting with them, but just let me do this room, I promise, I won't do anybody else by force. Besides, all I'm doing right now is to give them a little nudge before we leave and head to another room somewhere else."

"Why are your arms spread out then?" So far, they could hardly use things, and if she continued to do this with her hands, they needed an explanation for her channel. "Does that make it easier for you?"

Bella stopped for a moment as she considered his question and then shrugged. "I like to imagine the span of my thoughts gets bigger by stretching myself like this. Looks silly?"

"Yep."

Sighing, Bella dropped her hands to her side and continued to walk around for a few more minutes. "Okay, let's go and find us some stories," she said before wiping her hands off on her pants and left the room, followed by Kol and Jeremy. "Hey, Jer, if you want, you could take the Wonderbox and wander around here in this corridor by yourself."

"Are you sure?" Despite his bravado, he didn't want to leave Kol and Bella alone by themselves like he had in the Cullen House.

She let out a breath and nodded. "Yeah, we need to be alone to show ourselves that it was a one time thing. We'll take the corridor on the other end of the reception area, we won't go far. We'll be fine," she smiled at him. "Go have fun with that box. I'm sure you'll run into some ladies who'd want to see you shirtless."

"Not fair," Jeremy let out a snort but took the Wonderbox out of his backpack. "Okay, first sign of trouble…"

"Don't worry," Bella said bravely. "Kol and I are going to be just fine." When Jeremy walked off, Bella looped her arm through Kol's and slowly walked to the corridor on the opposite side of the reception area. "Relax," she said in barely a whisper. "Take a deep breath and relax, you're making me nervous."

"I thought you wouldn't pick up on my emotions?"

"I told you, I always have a shallow connection to those who are with me when I'm doing this to make sure they're safe," she replied calmly. "I merely decided to go a little bit deeper as this is a unique situation where we both are uncomfortable due to things that happened in the Cullen House."

"In all fairness, I'm surprised by this," he replied, after calming down a bit more. "Over the years we've learned to protect ourselves from empaths and mindreaders."

"I'm not a mindreader and if it makes you feel better, I don't sense Jeremy at all, likely due to his special skillset, I don't know," she shrugged as she pulled him inside a room and found a decent spot on the floor for them to sit down. "Don't worry, keeping tabs on you is just a precaution."

"Wouldn't want me to nearly kill you again," Kol snapped. "I still feel guilty about it and now you're even… you don't trust me?"

"I do!" Bella said as she switched on her flashlight and crawled into his lap, making sure the pocket with vervain in it didn't touch him. "I do trust you, it's that you don't trust yourself," she put her arms around his neck and softly kissed him. "You don't trust yourself with me in this type of environment when we're alone, even though Jeremy is close by. So, you and I are going to sit here all night."

"What about your stories?"

"Plenty of stories to tell, there are a handful of spirits here waiting and willing."

"You didn't say anything."

"No, because while I use my words a lot, I don't really need them to communicate with them, remember?" She softly kissed him again as she ran a hand through his hair. "Who knows? We might find a good natured spirit and maybe they want to help you out by testing your limits, because make no mistake, Kol Mikaelson, where I've become stronger in the last few weeks, so have you, and you can deal with a lot more than you think when it comes to energies and ghosts."

"I know, but-"

"No buts," she interrupted him before shifting a little to get the vervain out of her pocket and stuffed it into her backpack. "See? No buts. Well, your butt is extremely well shaped and mine, but no but buts."

"You're insane, I could kill you."

"Feed me some of your blood and we're sure I'll come back," she grinned as she playfully ground her hips down to his groin. "Nothing is going to happen here. This Sanatorium has insane energy, there's darkness, but it's nowhere near to the levels as the Cullen House," Bella then turned around in his lap so she could lean against him and moved her camera around to show the complete darkness. "There's an older woman here, she claims to be in her sixties. Immaculately dressed, it's like one of those fancy ball gowns you saw women wear in… the thirties, maybe? No, it's not flapper… perhaps late 1800's. She was a kept woman, her husband Jeffrey was a rich man, dealing in textiles and other things. Oh, he wasn't a faithful man, he liked to sleep with the female slaves they had on their property, but she didn't mind, she had a wonderful life. A handful of children. And then she died here, in this hospital of a broken hip of all things. Complications. And rather than to be at her plantation, she decided to stick around here, because she likes watching people. And there is no way she's going to move on, apparently this place is a dumping ground for victims of witches and the second floor is filled with angry people."

"What's her name?"

"Uh… Countess Amelia Persephone du Plessis, but she said that I could call her Amy."

"Oh, a Countess," Kol cooed as he wrapped an arm around her to hold her tighter. "Is she going to help you with getting good stories?"

^Offended^

"She's offended. Her story was a good one," Bella let out a chuckle. "But she does know of a retired police officer wandering these halls who still has an unsolved murder, she's offering to find him for us so we can help him solve it."

"No. Absolutely not."

Bella let out a snort before noticing a shy ghost, hiding near the door. "Hello, it's okay, they won't hurt you and Kol and I won't either, what's your name?"

^Stella^

As the spirit moved closer, Bella could sense the energy coming off of her. "Not too close, you're really really... Present," she said as she nearly dropped her camera. Her energy was different from the others, and Amy warned her that Stella was a basement dweller. Stella didn't stop approaching her, however, and Bella tried to put up a barrier. "I said stop. Talk to me, stop."

'You're a curious little thing,' Stella replied as she was held back by Bella's barrier, but tried her best to break through it. 'You're not like the others, making noise and demanding we show ourselves, you are merely letting it happen.'

"What are you?" Bella narrowed her eyes on the spirit, trying to push through the facade this Stella had thrown up.

'I told you she's a basement dweller,' Amy said, still an alarming tone in her voice. 'Witches and evil witches used to do a lot of stuff there that weren't all good.'

'You tell me, little girl,' Stella replied. 'What am I? And do you think your barrier is going to keep me from coming?'

"Jesus, she's strong," Bella muttered as she slowly got to her feet, not breaking eye contact with this Stella. "You didn't die here, nor were you a creation of any kind from whatever's going on in the basement."

"Bella?" Kol was slightly worried as he got to his feet too. A strong spirit? Like in the Cullen House? "How strong?"

"Oh, strong," she let out a breath. "I could get rid of her, but hey, she's contained for now. Myriam's lackeys were weak, Stella provides a challenge."

"Yeah. No. I'm calling Jeremy."

"No, it's a different kind of strong, she poses no threat to you, in fact, whenever you speak, she's rolling her eyes. She's focused on _me_ ," she replied as she wrapped her arms around herself. "She's scared off most of the spirits here. Amy is at the door, but I think she's leaving soon, too."

'Oh, I've been around, little girl,' Stella replied. 'I am not restricted by any laws or boundaries and soon enough I'll be able to get past this thing you've put up.'

"And here I thought she was incredibly shy," Bella let out a snort. "Quite the opposite. Says she's been around and not restricted by any laws or boundaries." She had a feeling that the brown haired ghost was a facade, that this Stella looked different in her normal form. If she even was a she. "She's trying to scare me."

"Is it working?"

"Maybe a little," Bella said calmly as she tried to put more energy towards the barrier. It seemed like Stella was absorbing it all. "I uhh… might be fuelling it. Stella might have been a witch, a very powerful one," she continued as she tried to push through Stella's appearance and connect to her on a deeper level. "She feels familiar, or at least there's a familiarity that I can't place."

"Maybe it's Valerie in disguise?"

"No, it's definitely not Valerie. I have no idea where she is, but she'd never hide her true self from me. Val also has a different kind of energy and she's certainly not as strong as Stella," Bella cocked her head as she remained quiet for a while longer before the silence was disrupted by Jeremy yelling at someone.

"You can't be here! I don't want you to be here and why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Well, Jeremy, she is your sister and worried about you. Seeing as I'm dating your sister, that makes me worried about you, we've been over this. It wasn't hard to find you on youtube, you know. Do some digging."

"Oh, bloody hell," Kol muttered under his breath. "Brace yourself, Bella, we're about to receive an earful from Jeremy's sister. No doubt she believes we're putting him in danger."

"Is he alright?" Bella asked Kol, not removing her eyes from Stella. If you didn't know any better, Bella seemed to be staring at the wall, intently.

"You can't be here, we're in the middle of something!" Jeremy exclaimed angrily before the sound of something breaking could be heard. "Oh, you're a dead man. Do you have any idea how much this thing costs and how rare it is?!"

"And Damon just broke the Wonderbox, he's dead," Kol deadpanned as he detached himself from Bella. "Will you be alright here? I'm going to kill someone."

"Oh, I'm coming with you," Bella replied quickly. "I've been hearing so many stories about these two that I must see who they are. No doubt Stella will be following me anyway, but I'll feel a lot better in the wide open space of the reception area," she said before taking Kol's hand so he could pull her along with him. "And destroying the Wonderbox deserves a good punishment because you bought it for us."

"Money isn't an issue darling," he reassured her. "It's the fact that he's here and destroyed our property and is interrupting our things here." He let go of Bella and ran up to Damon, punching him in the face. "Damon Salvatore, you have some nerve coming to New Orleans."

"Oh, hey, it's the attack dog, wasn't he supposed to be dead?" Damon replied as he got back to his feet and rubbed his jaw. "No, wait, attack cat, because you certainly seem to have more than nine lives!"

"We're here to see my brother," the girl replied quickly. "You've been keeping him from me."

"No we haven't," Kol scoffed, shoulders tensing. "He just didn't want to deal with your shit anymore."

Bella observed the four people in front of her, all with annoyed looks on their faces and Kol's emotional state was through the roof in a very bad way. "Could you guys maybe calm down a little?"

"And he's left us for some witch," Elena said as a matter of factly, pointing at Bella. "Typical. Can't get Bonnie, let's find someone else."

"Elena," Jeremy warned her. "I'm an adult."

Damon had been largely silent since the two arrived, watching the girl speculatively. "Actually, Elena, I think she's with the happy maniac."

"Or maybe she's with both of us," Kol snarled as he found Bella looking at the wall again. "You can meet up tomorrow or something, if I don't kill you first."

"They can also replace our Wonderbox too," Bella murmured, glancing at him.

"Yeah, I worked really hard for that. Took Nik every ounce of control not to kill the people he got it from and to compel them instead," he said before realizing he had run his mouth. "Uh…"

Jeremy let out a snort as he noticed Bella's incredulous look on her face as she turned back to Kol. "Do I even want to know who he got it from?"

"A local paranormal society… these things are really hard to get, you know."

"Orleans Supernatural?" Jeremy threw out, already suspecting as much.

Bella blinked as she looked back and forth between the two. "Klaus is going to be _pissed_ when he hears about this…"

"Oh yeah, he's going to want to kill young Salvatore himself, but not if I can get to him first!" Kol grinned, rubbing his hands in glee. "And after Damon, I'll rip Elena's little neck to shreds…"

"Hey, she's my sister, you will not kill her," Jeremy scolded Kol before ducking as a large beam fell down from the sky, right through Damon, impaling him. "Ah, should have seen that one coming."

Kol stopped short, a smile playing on his lips as he glanced up. "Thanks guys!"

"Just let them go. It's not like there is anywhere they can hide in this city," Bella murmured, her phone to her ear already as she dialed the Mikaelson compound. No one would get away with breaking her precious equipment, even if it was obtained through nefarious means. Plus, she actually liked Klaus after the way he helped with the equipment and later her father. As the phone rang, she watched as Stella sauntered in, her facade fizzling around her upon the sight of Elena and Damon. It was quick, but Bella immediately recognized the person underneath it all as she dropped her phone. "Uh. Shit."

Kol had already had his hands around Damon's throat, pulling him from the beam and cracking the bones underneath when he heard his girlfriend. Looking over his shoulder, he froze at her expression, letting the irritating vampire loose. "What is it?"

"Stella," Bella replied as she took a few steps back. "She broke through the barriers I put up around her."

Kol looked over at Jeremy, who hadn't learned of their recent encounter yet. "Let's get out of here," he ordered, moving over to help Bella with her equipment.

'Ah, why do I bother? You've seen it, haven't you?' Stella said as she dropped the facade. 'You must realize by now that nothing can stop me.'

^Nothing^

^Stop me^

At the warning words, Jeremy picked up his pace and on his way past his sister for the exit, grabbed her arm to drag her with him. "What? Let me go!"

"Shut up and let's get out of here. It's no longer safe," Jeremy argued, pushing her forward.

"Jeremy, it's a ghost," Elena said as she struggled against her brother. "Ghosts can't hurt the living or undead."

"If Bella is afraid, then there is a good damn reason. And ghosts can most certainly hurt us," he hurried, glancing over his shoulder to find Kol carrying the equipment over his back and Bella in his arms before they zipped past them. "No fair! That's cheating!"

"Then ask your bloody sister to pick you up and run you out of there!" Kol called after him and put Bella down on the steps of the sanatorium. "Myriam gave you something to temporarily seal the building with?"

"I don't know…" Bella replied as she was watching the door. "Myriam tries new things every day, she really needs to stop that because nothing truly works and I don't think it'll work against _her_."

"Try, just try anything. It's gotta be within you then. You sealed those portals, you can seal this building," Kol suggested, trying to be encouraging.

"I don't think that I'll be able to contain her, she can be anywhere, everywhere, moving beyond the realms of the dead… she broke through my barrier, Kol."

Damon made his way out, pulling the pieces of wood from the beam that embedded in his shoulder out in the process. "What the hell do you mean? You all sound like raging lunatics, you know that?"

"And here I thought you saw her youtube videos in your search for me," Jeremy quipped as he put his sister down.

"She recognized _her_ ," Bella pointed to Elena. "It was then I saw the crack in her mask. So, she is helluva lot more than a random haunt and knowing what I know, she could be a lot worse than the Cullen House, because at least they remain there and this ghost said she could go anywhere."

Kol narrowed his eyes as he blocked her view of Elena. "Who was it? Who did you see?"

Bella let out a small whimper, looking towards the building briefly. "You and Klaus won't like it at all…"

"Bella…"

"Remember that nurse we saw when we went in my head?"

Kol was quiet for a moment as he tried to remember and then blinked, shaking his head. "No fucking way. No...way...in...hell."

"Klaus is going to be pissed," Bella repeated, but now for an entirely different reason.

"And Myriam is going to have a blast trying to make you do new tricks to try and stop _her_."

Bella then let out a snort. "But hey, bright side? At least it's not the Cullen House!" she smiled sweetly, only to get a groan from Jeremy and a growl from Kol.


	22. Chapter 21

"I don't want them to hear this," Bella said as she pointed at Damon and Elena. They were all gathered in the compound, still carrying all of their equipment. "They can reunite with Jeremy properly later, but we need to discuss this without their ears."

Klaus was swift in breaking the necks of the two vampires. "First of all, you brought more idiots from Mystic Falls in this city, care to explain?"

"That's not important, but they're here for Jeremy," Bella said as she watched the bodies drop to the ground. She walked over to the nearest table with alcohol and poured herself a big glass of bourbon and knocked it back in one go.

Klaus brow raised as he watched her drink, knowing she preferred wine. "This ought to be good," he sighed. "Shall I call Myriam and the others back?"

"How about you decide after hearing this?" Bella looked at him. "Because this is important. Like… very important because I don't think there's anything we can do to stop her from popping up again and again and again and causing trouble for us. She broke through my barrier and I'm likely not strong enough to go head to head with this."

The hybrid frowned at the fear that filled his young friend and looked to his brother, who also was not all that excited at the moment. In fact he looked downright, terrified. Or at least as terrified one of their family was capable of reaching. Kol had remained mostly silent, looking around with suspicion, but he was certain he wasn't seeing spirits any longer.

"Alright, hit me with the bad news before I decide to murder some pains in the asses," he said, standing over Damon and Elena.

"You know that when I was fifteen, my parents put me in a mental health hospital," Bella started to explain. "Because of the stabbing and the things I saw, and we've established that it was around the time you'd all come back to Mystic Falls, right?"

Klaus nodded, "I got that information from your father, yes. What does this have to do with whatever you two are so…"

"I was put in a hospital in Virginia, close to Mystic Falls. When Kol and I took a trip inside my head, we were confronted with images from my time there. I still don't remember much from it, it's all still mostly blocked, but I know enough to… well… remember it as quite unpleasant. There was this nurse there at some point and she felt familiar to me and I thought she could have been my biological mother or something because it felt so real, there was a connection and I couldn't explain it. She did some unspeakable things to me and wished for me to kill her family when I was older."

He narrowed his eyes, feeling the story to have a much more personal aspect to his family's lives than it should. Meeting Kol's eyes, he could see the same expression and at the subtle nod from his brother, he closed his eyes and turned away. "Who was this woman?" he questioned as he went to his bar.

"Kol recognized her as your mother," Bella replied softly. "I'm sorry."

"So what does this have to do with why you're here today? You are out of that facility and free from her manipulations. In fact we killed her not just once but again here in -. The Other Side is destroyed…" he realized, looking at his brother again. "No!"

"She was presenting herself as someone else so that it wouldn't draw Bella's suspicions, although she did stop her from advancing by putting a barrier around her. Bella wasn't afraid, at first, in fact, she wanted to face it head on because she knows she can do more now. It wasn't until these two idiots showed up that this spirit showed her true self to Bella and well…"

"She's nothing like a ghost or an Ancestor," Bella replied quietly. "She's an entity at this point, I think akin to the Elementals, you can't truly get rid of them. Hell, I'm not even sure if I can take her on should she start to cause trouble for us," she was then quiet for a moment. "Oh. But that might actually work. Ohh… yes!"

"Care to enlighten the rest of us, Isabella?" Klaus growled. "If you cannot fight our mother in her new form, then what can?"

"I think we'll have a great shot in Natchez," she said with a nod, carefully looking around to see if there were new spirits hanging around. "Can't say much in case she'll hear it, but if she wants me, she can come and get me in Natchez, where we'll go camping until she shows up."

"Natchez?" Kol frowned. "There are plenty of nicer grounds closer here. I'll take you to the Bayou…"

"Yeah, been there before, very haunted. Very elementally and they owe me, and they know this," she looked at Kol with a smile. "No doubt they'll have heard about our good work at that house by now, and I've been there before, they're very… accommodating as long as you treat them with respect and make some sacrifices."

Shrugging a shoulder, he looked at the unconscious vampires. "Sacrifices, we got in spades."

"Not those kind," Bella rolled her eyes at him. "They're for Jeremy to deal with. Your mother is yours, Klaus, and my problem."

"Hey! I never said I'd go with you!" Klaus objected.

"Oh, but from what Kol told me, you'll be great bait, too," Bella grinned. "Pack your bags, we're leaving tonight to make sure she won't do us any harm."

"Myriam and I had a date night planned!" he argued. "What do you expect me to tell her when she comes home and finds us gone?!"

"Who are you more afraid of? Your mother or Myriam?"

He scowled at her. "They are equally terrifying in their areas. You tell Myriam why I can't take her out. I'll be waiting in the car. Bloody fucking siblings and mother…" he grumbled as he made his way through the compound. "And I want those pests out before we get back!"

"You sure you want to do this now? At this second?" Jeremy questioned Bella. "Shouldn't you give it some more time?"

"I think that if we give the bitch more time to gain more energy and become powerful, nothing can stop her," Bella said, quite self-confident. "This is the best shot that we have to make sure she won't do us any harm now, or in the future. Natchez is our best shot at this point. If that fails, well, we'll have to think of something else." She then paused for a moment. "Just imagine, she wasn't powerful enough now to take me over, but if she would have been able to, what would she have done?"

"Best not to think about that," Kol said as he stuffed the bags with equipment in the car. "Those are coming with. Your backpack is coming with, although if Nik gets possessed, I think you're better off poofing out of existence until he's back to his normal self."

"What about the dagger?" she asked.

"It'll only slow him down, not put him down like it does to me. Fucking hybrid and all."

"I heard that!" Klaus' voice could be heard from the car.

Bella let a breath out through her nose. "This will be fun."

Kol smiled and shook his head. "Remember you once said you wanted him to join us on a haunt."

"Yeah, a proper haunt, not to use him as bait," Bella scowled as she followed Kol to the car and dialled Myriam's number.

Jeremy sighed. "You are just as much bait as he would be. You said she is interested in you, and she hates him. Just be careful."

"Yeah, she wants me to kill them all, we'll be fine where we're going, I promise," she replied with a smile. "Have fun with your sis."

"Can we trade? Please?"

Bella had settled in the passenger seat when Myriam finally picked up the phone. " _I'm feeding here! Date night tonight! Need to be at my most beautiful!"_

"You are always beautiful, Myr," Bella replied, rolling her eyes. "But date night is cancelled. I'm kidnapping your boyfriend."

" _I never thought Kol would be willing to share you with anyone else, least of all Nik. He is a wild ride though. Where are you taking him?"_

"It's not that kind of a kidnapping. I'm going to use him as bait. Two baits are better than one."

" _Oooh, sounds like fun! Why wasn't I invited? I feel so unloved…"_

"Well, we're currently driving down Bourbon Street, come and find us and join us."

Klaus scowled over at his human friend. "You have no idea what you are inviting along."

Bella shrugged as she disconnected the call. "I'll explain the rules to you and her once she's here. If she doesn't abide by the rules, Kol has my permission to snap her neck."

Kol glanced warily at his brother. "Uh, darling? That's not quite what he meant. After Myriam feeds on fresh blood - she's um…"

 _*crash - thud*_

Bella let out a cry of surprise when something crashed down onto their roof. "What the hell!"

Klaus sighed as he rolled down the window for Myriam to climb inside. "Come on in, my love," he greeted Myriam as she hopped in, immediately straddling him and smothering him with kisses.

"Sex in the back of a moving vehicle," Myriam purred. "That's been a long time…"

Bella scowled. "Hey, none of that!"

"Close your ears," Myriam smiled at her as she looked over her shoulder. "Mommy and daddy will be done shortly."

"Stop it."

"Make me!"

Bella rummaged through her backpack and grabbed her vervain before brushing it against Myriam's arm, causing her to yelp and get off of Klaus in an instant with a pout. "Party pooper! That hurts!"

"It's effective," Bella shrugged as she put it away again. "It's a four hour drive. Make that two, speed limits don't count for Kol."

Myriam was still rubbing her arm and angrily nudged the chair in front of her with her knee. "Why are you going to use them as bait?"

Klaus sighed as he started to explain the situation to her, grateful for Bella's quick thinking, but also severely pissed at the interruption of date night. Myriam high on blood was so much fun and she never allowed herself to get carried away this much.

"Oh! We've always wanted to go along with her on these kind of trips!" Myriam responded happily as she bounced in her seat.

"No, love, you always wanted to go, I am fine staying at home," he pointed out to her. "You know very well that this doesn't interest me."

"Yes it does."

"No, it doesn't."

"Bullshit," she shot at him before leaning on the chair and blowing into Bella's ear. "So, the Mikaelsons as bait, will they be undressed and tied up?"

Kol sighed at the image of his girlfriend naked. "No. Actually it's Bella and Klaus that is the bait this time."

"Ohh, a naked Bella? I don't think I can keep my hands off of her, either!"

"Myr," Bella warned her. "Esther wants me. But seeing as she hates Klaus, I figured it would be easier to get her where I want her if I brought him with me. For some reason she seemed disappointed in Kol."

"Yeah, because I refused to do her bidding the last time," he said with a scowl. "Once again, the unwanted Mikaelson."

"You're not unwanted," Bella assured him. "I want you. You're mine," she ran a hand through his hair as he drove. "And Klaus is happy you're back, too. Rebekah adores you and Elijah… well, it's hard for him to like anyone, isn't it?"

"That's not what I meant…"

"Well, it's what I mean," she replied as she continued to ignore the horny feelings she got from Myriam. "And it says a lot about a parent when they don't want you. It means that they're rubbish."

"Are you going to explain the plan to us now, love?" Klaus questioned her as Kol sped the car up even further.

"No, but we're going over the rules, how about that?"

~o.O.o~

"I've been here before," Bella said as they unloaded the car in the sunrise. "Did you know that leaders of the Natchez Native Americans were called The Great Sun and that when one died, his wives would perform a ritualistic suicide as they were expected to join him on his journey in the afterlife? A great honor was associated with this act," she said as she adjusted her bag on her back. "Sometimes more people would follow in this act, mothers would even sacrifice their children and then that honor would be bestowed upon them."

"That's truly barbaric," Klaus huffed.

"Not for them, and they were all honorable deaths with honorable burials. These spirits no longer linger around," Bella said as she pointed at the Walmart across the street. "I'm going to get us some food, how about you guys plunder that flower shop over there? I want everything."

"Everything?" Kol blinked in confusion. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, everything. We're going to ask some very powerful beings for help, they need all the sacrifice we can give to them," she then looked at the vampires. "You're vampires, for fuck's sake, you're not afraid of a few flowers, are you?"

"Um, vervain? Wolfsbane? So...yeah…" Klaus muttered, with Kol and Myriam nodding along.

Bella scowled as she held out her hand. "Give me your credit card. You're going to get us some food and drinks for the day and I will get those flowers, hell, even tip them well enough for them to deliver the truck where I want to go and leave the truck there for the rest of the day."

"Wait, we can do that," Myriam blinked. "I didn't think of that, of course we don't have to handle the flowers!"

"Doesn't Klaus buy you flowers?" she asked her, confused.

"Well, the shop I go to definitely has no chance of cross contamination of the very plants that can poison us," Klaus answered. "It's owned by a vampire."

"So you three won't even set foot in that shop?"

"Nope," Myriam shook her head. "Because cross contamination is real."

Bella couldn't help but to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh, look at that, three big bad vampires, afraid of a flower shop… jesus christ, just compel someone!" She threw her hands up as she gave up. "You know what? Come with me to Walmart, and I'll come with you to the flower shop," she shook her head laughing as she looped her arm through Kol's and pulled him along with her. "You're hilarious."

"Glad our fears amuse you, darling," Kol murmured as he followed her into the store.

After purchasing enough snacks and drinks for their day out - Bella was unsure how long this was going to take, but if all failed, they could try summoning Esther to the spot, she made arrangements for the flowers to be taken to the spot near the Mississippi river where she wanted to go to. It was close by anyway.

She was glad that Myriam had settled somewhat as they walked towards the area. Yes, there were shops near by and yes, perhaps it was all situated near a busy road, but at night, everything was quiet and the place more beautiful than it already was. "The first time I was here was a couple of years ago, my first experience with the Elementals and Native American spirits. It taught me a whole lot on how to deal with them."

"At the Cullen House you were stopped by Native American spirits," Kol pointed out.

"Yes, because they were protecting the house. Or me, us, from getting hurt in that house. And I was stubborn. But I always treat them with respect. I wasn't really nice last night, but those ghosts weren't nice, these people are completely different."

"What are Elementals again?"

"Oh, I know this one," Myriam piped up. "They can be anything, ranging from animal spirits or water spirits or…"

"True, but the guys I'm referring to are as tall as the trees, black as the night and all you can see are their eyes sometimes," Bella smiled. "More like big protectors rather than cuddlers, they keep the spirits safe and give warnings to the living."

Kol thought about Bella's words before it finally clicked inside his head. "You think they can deal with Esther?"

"It's worth a shot," Bella shrugged. "Hence why we need all those flowers, I'm likely going to be talking to these guys all day."

"And what are we supposed to do all day!" Klaus exclaimed. "Sit around, doing nothing?"

"Yep, enjoying the scenery and shit. Try to refrain from snacking on people, the Elementals will not like that and will be less likely to agree to try and help."

Myriam pouted. "We can always go out of the immediate area for a snack."

"Haven't you had enough?" Klaus blinked at her. "We could, however, give these _Elementals_ a show while we romp in the woods…"

"Oh boy," Bella groaned as she sat down on the grass and spread out her little blanket that she bought so they wouldn't look out of place from other people enjoying a day out in the sun. It was still early, but blending in was the best way for now. "Breakfast time," she smiled as she set out the assortment of fruit and sandwiches.

"Shouldn't you try and take a nap, Darling?" Kol asked, moving to sit beside her.

She nodded as she popped a berry in her mouth. "I'll nap after breakfast, I'm hungry."

Kol pulled her into his arms and pulled her down with him. "I'm hungry too, but something else entirely. My brother and Myriam may not have had a bad idea in running off. You do know there is no one around to find us," he grinned.

"I'm going to have to talk to the Elementals, Kol," she let out a snort as she settled beside him and reached for the strawberries. She grabbed a handful and fed him one.

Chewing the fruit, he kept his eyes on her. "Are there any around now?"

"Yeah, of course, they're always around. Just wary, quietly observing us," she replied as she nodded towards the tree line. "Some of their fallen warriors are around too, they never got a proper burial, it was likely that they were killed by the French army and their bodies dumped in the river. Looking for ghosts is always done in the dark, but I don't need the dark for it. Never have. But it looks better and creepier on camera." She took a bite of her strawberry and closed her eyes. "By showing them that we are peaceful and come in peace, we'll be able to gain their trust more easily. It's been awhile, you know. And these people present here aren't doing anything hurtful unless we provoke them. The warriors are restless, but that's because they didn't get the burial they deserved and no shaman has returned to move their spirits on. They don't like it that there are shops nearby though. Disturbs the peace a little, but they're sentient enough to know to stay away from the area, and follow the river to other places they can gather."

"Are Native American spirits different from the others?"

"A little. But that's because they're a very spiritual folk, they've seen conflict, they've been evicted from their own houses… there are some deranged spirits out there, don't get me wrong, but they usually only do bad things when they have a good reason for it. Like… they're confused and think the land still belongs to them, they'll haunt a family living on the property much to the point where they get sick or die. It's an endless cycle, but no matter what, who or how, I always make sure I pay the right respects to these spirits and their protectors. Because that's what they deserve. It's also the reason why I work the way I do with the normal spirits, they get bothered enough by people who do this for a kick and a rush."

"People like Drew," he let out a snort.

"Well yeah, especially his buddies. Drew is actually the calmer sort, just highly excitable like a puppy. I mean, he did brilliant things for us at the House and his footage with Jeremy is great. Totally different from when he's with his colleagues. Jace is this showboat with a big mouth and Hugo is his puppy who does things when Jace is too scared, the whole energy of that group is unbalanced, which isn't good for the spirits, either. What Astaria does, helping families in haunted homes, is something entirely different, because she's actually a clairaudient and stuff. She doesn't need equipment," she opened her eyes and popped another strawberry in Kol's mouth. "She doesn't go in screaming and yelling like… 'show yourself! Hurt me! Use this equipment to communicate with us!'"

"And here I thought you never badmouthed others!"

"Not where I can get quoted and it can be used against me," she laughed. "Seriously though, people like that piss me off because I'm usually the one cleaning up their messes. It's easy to tell when they've been somewhere. Asteria too, she doesn't like them either and will try to fix things but sometimes she calls me for a favor. The Sanatorium has been trampled over a plenty. Amy said something about the second floor being bad, and the third floor even worse. The first floor where we were hanging out is filled with so many zombie ghosts that it's heartbreaking. And I'm sure you didn't miss all those exes on the floor in duct tape."

"You do worry me sometimes," he said as he nuzzled her neck. "I love how self confident you are with this part of your life even after all the nasty experiences, but you're only one person, Bella, it's not your duty to fix everything."

"So… you'd rather I allow your mom to become more powerful and able to hurt all of you?"

"That's not what I mean, that's something entirely different. I meant what you did at the Sanatorium, moving on an entire room of people and then having had to deal with my mother. Wouldn't the barrier have held if you hadn't used your energy to move those spirits on?"

"Likely, but not for much longer, though," she said after having given it some thought. "But I want to practise it though, to do mass passings. If we'd ever come across another house as bad as the Cullens, I want to be able to protect us all. Wouldn't it be neat if I were able to cleanse an entire building with a simple thought?"

"Yes, but it'll also burn you out so no," he sighed. "It's good to feel powerful, but even you have your limits, you just don't know them yet."

She turned around in his arms and looked at him. "Something like that house will never happen again," she assured him, kissing his lips softly. "Especially now that I'm working with what I've previously lost… all thanks to you," she then smiled as she pushed another strawberry into his mouth. "I've been thinking… we still have so many questions about who or what I am, what I can do… we need to have another source other than that scroll to confirm everything… what if it's inside my mind? What if it's been inside of there all along?"

"You want to go for another trip?" He asked with a full mouth as he chewed.

"If you want, yes," Bella nodded. "Not now, of course, but once we've dealt with Esther and had some rest."

He nodded. "Very well, if I say yes, will you please go and take a nap now?"

She let out a chuckle and nodded. "Yes, I will take that nap now and have more food later."

"Then yes. I think it's an excellent idea," he replied as he pulled her closer against him. "Now nap." When he was absolutely certain that Bella was down for the count, he looked around to find his brother, who was just returning with Myriam. "Had fun?" he asked quietly.

"Oh yeah," Myriam giggled as she sat down on the blanket and started to devour the strawberries. "You got her to nap?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to have a serious talk with someone and try to get into their mind at the same time to make sure that they're taking the rest that they need?"

"You didn't!" Myriam gasped.

"Payback, because she kept a tighter emotional leash on me last night," he replied with half a shrug, before explaining to Myriam that Bella likes to keep light emotional tabs on the people she's going in the field with to make sure that they're alright, and how deeper she was connecting with him after their experience at the house. "In any case, I'm glad you both have returned, at least now it won't look awkward when I'm going for a stroll inside her mind and we won't be unprotected."

"Aren't you supposed to do that with her, brother?" Klaus questioned as he buttered a roll for himself. "It's her mind, after all."

"And she's terrified of what's inside. I'm going in, and I'll leave the memories of what I've learned when I go out. Easy like that. She'll understand."

Myriam curiously eyed him for a moment. "Very well, proceed, but Klaus is coming in with you."

"What!" Both Klaus and Kol exclaimed, causing Bella to stir in her slumber.

"Whatever her link to Esther is, affects the rest of the family. At least having a second pair of eyes in her head to witness everything, would give more credibility to your idiotic older brother when he second guesses everything Kol and Bella claim," Myriam explained. "Plus, I think she might be a little more accommodating in regards to her fears inside if two of the deadliest creatures that she trusts are in there to protect her."

"But Bella won't be there, I made sure of it," Kol said, defensively. "She hates her head."

"A piece of Bella is always present, you know this as well as I do, besides, I think that with Klaus' help, you won't be kicked out easily, either." Myriam winked at him. "So, proceed, but take Klaus with you."


	23. Chapter 22

He waited for his brother to appear next to him as they were on the light side of Bella's psyche with all the houses in various states of disarray, wondering if he should show him house 15, where the events of their family's reunion 8 years ago were branded inside, along with Bella's trip in the asylum, it would make things better to understand for Nik, wouldn't it?

"Such a neat place to be," Klaus remarked as he appeared next to Kol, looking around. "So well organized."

"Bella likes to be in control over everything," Kol explained. "Took her quite some time to accept that there are certain aspects of her life were quite alright to leave in my hands or Jeremy's," he added before leading his brother down the road. "She's put everything in houses, but don't let their size fool you, there's a lot of space in them and it changes all the time."

"I've been inside many heads, brother, but this one…"

"I know, it's a little bit strange, wait until you meet tiny Bella and her pack."

"Pack?" As if right on cue, wolves could be heard howling from around the corner. "Wolves? She has a pack of wolves inside her mind?"

"To keep the darkness on their side of Bella's mind," Kol said amused as the wolves flew past them and disappeared into the darkness. Tiny Bella emerged soon after. "Hey Bella."

"You're back," the girl replied, cocking her head. "Without me, but with him? What happened to me? Am I in danger? Dead? Coma?"

"You're taking a nap," Kol explained to her. "This is Niklaus, I'm sure you've seen him before."

"But what are you doing here?"

"Well, you must know by now that we've learned a great deal about you and we want to find some answers, if you don't mind," he replied. "Big you doesn't like to be confronted with some of the things here, but that's why I brought my brother along, to make you feel safer, too."

Bella huffed as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I'm a shithead," she said as she turned around and motioned for them to follow her. "Don't go into the darkness. The wolves will eat you if it doesn't consume you first," she reminded them. "And don't destroy the houses, they are crumbling already because of big me's interaction with you guys, making her give up control over herself because she feels comfortable and safe and stuff."

"What would happen, I wonder," Klaus said amused, "If we were to tear down all those houses? Would it make Bella remember more? Gain more control? Remember the full extent of her abilities? Or remember how she came to be?"

"I wouldn't even remember how to pee!" Bella exclaimed angrily, balling her tiny fists at her side. "Don't test me, Niklaus Mikaelson, because you will be sorry."

"Nik, we're inside Bella's head, be nice," Kol was surprised by tiny Bella's behavior, but then again, his brother always knew how to get the best or worst out of people, and Bella wasn't having it.

They passed a house that was being built, also bearing the mark of 23, but there was something familiar about the way it was being built, looking quite different from the rest in the row down the road. Klaus paused for a moment as he scratched his head. "Is it me or does this house look like a mini version of our Compound? I remember the plans for it as if it were yesterday, look at the entrance gate and how the tiles are arranged."

He had seen this building before, but it was unrecognizable then, now that he truly stopped and looked, listened to his brother's words, he agreed. "Bella, why does this house look different from the others?"

"Because that's home now," Bella pointed out. "You can go inside if you wish, and see? We both know that for an empath we're not really forthcoming in some areas."

"That's not true, you are very honest and forthcoming about your feelings," Kol pointed out. "You communicate your feelings very well."

"Coolbeans," Bella replied as she continued to walk past the houses, some of the most recent ones a bit smudged in darkness. "Icky years," she pointed out. "Glad I got some sense after the mutt left."

"Not a fan of Jake then?"

"Oh please," Bella rolled her eyes as she turned around to face Kol. "You've heard the stories, the reality is a lot worse. Jake was only pretending to be mildly interested in me because it was fun to make fun of me behind my back. Plus, Renée paid him a lot of money to tag along. I was stupid enough to fall for it all and continue to be nice about him, but that's what I do, trying not to think the worst of people, or spirits, for that matter. I still don't see why we have to flaunt our abilities like that, it's best to remain hidden and be a protector."

"A protector of what?" Klaus asked curiously as the houses became a bit smaller after the mucky houses.

"Balance, be a positive force and not a negative one," Bella stopped again to look at the two Mikaelsons. "You still haven't figured it out?"

"What?"

"Okay, not saying anything else about it then," she said before she turned around again and skipped ahead. "You've been in 15, where do you want to go next?"

"Can Niklaus experience one of those moments where you were with him, but not really? Like in 15?" Kol asked carefully, scratching his head due to Bella's confusing words.

"He can go in 15, those are the most powerful memories," Bella said as a matter of factly. "But the house is in really bad shape, it wasn't a great year. All years were crappy until 23, but 15 takes the cake."

"We know," Klaus said gently. "And I'm truly sorry that you had to go through that."

Bella shrugged as she stopped in front of 15. "Welcome to sideshow Bella, you have reached your destination, enjoy," she said as she bowed and opened the door. "Keep your hands to yourself and whatever you do, don't feel sorry for us. Be amazed by the wonders of our mind and the connections we've built."

"Bella," Kol scolded her. "You are not a sideshow."

"Says you," she said as she sat down, crossed her legs over each other and stuffed her thumb in her mouth. "Maybe I should wake myself up, allow me to catch you red handed…"

"No," he told her before following his brother inside where the same imagery as before washed over him, his brother in awe of what they were experiencing. Kol didn't want to see Bella's treatment in the hospital anymore, but Nik needed to see Esther there. With Bella. And hear her words. He then noticed a trapdoor, likely leading to the basement, that he hadn't seen the first time. Curious, he pulled it open and found a staircase leading down to a smelly kind of sewer. "Huh," he said as he pulled his brother along. "What's this then?"

"Heads don't need sewers," Klaus muttered, the stench unbearable.

There was a small layer of water, but also a ridge where you could safely walk on and Kol decided to follow it, curious now. There were reflections in the water of things he couldn't place, a jungle of memories, likely. When they turned a corner in the darkness, they both covered their ears when Bella's loud screaming echoed through the area as a greeting, several dark red aura'd reflections floating by, taking the screams with them as they went. "What is this?" Kol muttered to himself once his ears were able to function again, an annoying beeping tone still in his ears, but at least he could hear again.

"Very bad dreams," a soft voice replied, a tiny light appearing around the corner. "Come." The voice was female, that was just about everything he recognized about it. "You've made it this far."

As he walked towards the light, he could see a very small woman standing in the light, the size of perhaps a 6 year old, but she looked old. Ancient. Familiar eyes. "Bella?"

"Oh, that's my name?" she hummed to herself and nodded. "I suppose it fits, come, let us get out of this nightmare," she said as she shuffled along the tiny ledge towards some stairs leading back into the light.

When they emerged from the sewers, they were standing in the fields of Mystic Falls, where they grew up, both brothers remembering it well. The little house greeting them was familiar too, granted, their house was bigger, but it was almost a carbon copy of it, just a lot smaller.

"Don't be afraid, only good memories here," the old woman said as she opened the door. "Tea?"

Klaus was growing more unnerved by the tour of his friend's head and waved the offer off as he looked around the small cabin. "No thank you," he murmured, taking notice a particular wooden toy on the floor that he knew quite well. "Perhaps you can explain how you are familiar with our childhood home?"

Bella smiled then as she sank into her chair. "I could, but I would love to hear your theories first, surely by now you've gathered some information?" She poured herself a cup of tea from the kettle that had been on the fire and poured another for Kol.

"We figured you have something to do with the Volturi, but being that the Bella we know is only 23, it's impossible that you would know so much of our pasts when she never existed until now," Kol spoke, his eyes dark with suspicion on the woman.

"Ah, still alive and kicking then, those damn Volturi…" she muttered under her breath. "Answer me this; am I human? Is your Bella human?"

"Of course she is," Kol and Klaus chorused, confused by such a question.

She smirked as she took a sip of her tea. "Are you absolutely certain?"

"Well, she's not a vampire!" Kol objected. "Though she does take my blood in case of something unseen should happen."

She quietly watched him for a moment. "You don't have to worry about her death, we are eternal, as you are. Now that we've joined you, she won't age beyond her years and cannot die. Granted, should something unforeseen happen that would result in a loss of blood or getting stabbed through the heart, we might need a couple of days to get better and back on our feet."

"This doesn't make sense," Klaus spoke. "If you or Bella isn't human or vampire, then what in the bloody hell is she?

"What do the Volturi say about us?"

"Pure immortality, but that would be impossible. Even Niklaus has a weakness and he's next to impossible to kill. But there is always a loophole," Kol reasoned.

Bella hummed as she took another sip of her tea. "Doesn't the Volturi scroll state that they're looking for a being created out of dark magic, that a shot of dark magic supposedly hit an angel?"

"Energy. It's a fable to help them seek some divine happenstance. If anything like that existed, we would have heard something through witches or someone else beside the Volturi. It sounds more like a bedtime story for their devout to keep them entranced," Kol scoffed. "Besides, Bella was found as an infant 23 years ago."

"Tell me, did you have an imaginary friend growing up, Kol Mikaelson? Because your siblings were too busy ignoring you for your antics?"

He sighed and shook his head. "She was not imaginary. She was always there and real."

"What was her name? Ylva, wasn't it?"

"Does her name have anything to do with the wolves outside?" Klaus asked, recognizing it.

"No, the family who found her in the woods had an obsession with the wolves, so they called her Ylva. They found her the day after Kol was born and they grew up together. She liked to help him with his magic and give him the attention that he craved from his siblings," Bella replied.

"And she died amongst the villagers, likely at my father's hand," Kol frowned.

"I didn't," Bella replied, looking up at him. "I witnessed my own creation and then I poofed out of existence again, didn't have control over it, so I learned control and kept an eye on you as pure energy as I learned and tried time and time again to return to you but failed. Until 1994." Upon seeing the cogs work in his head, she let out a small chuckle before taking a sip of her tea. "I'm pure energy, eternal. Time is irrelevant. Not to worry, we've managed to get rid of that ability as it was giving us a headache."

"But… Bella has those memories."

"I am Bella, just a part of her that failed but did get to spend time with you," she said calmly as the hybrid paced around in the little home. "I believe that the both of you find this story quite incredulous and impossible, am I correct?"

"Of course!" Klaus cried out. "This is all a fairy tale, a legend, a scary story to tell the children! Beings of pure energy don't exist!"

"Ah," Bella pointed out. "Vampires don't exist either, and yet, there are currently two inside my head," she said with a tiny smile on her face as she took a sip of her tea. "Look at it this way, I'm a byproduct of your mother's dark magic, the spell that she cast to create you. If it hadn't hit that Angel in the process, I wouldn't have been here."

"If you are a byproduct of what my mother did, then you're a threat to the family!" Klaus said angrily as he pointed at Bella. "Is that's what you're doing? Use my younger, more excitable brother to get to us? Lure us into a false sense of security and then when we least expect it, you'll destroy us? Do her bidding?"

"Niklaus, you know very well that Bella's not that kind of a person."

"She's not even a person, Kol! She has never been human!" Klaus defended his rage. "She's something that shouldn't be possible!"

"Hey, sunshine!" Old Bella snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Newsflash, you're impossible too!" Ignoring the hybrid's antics, she addressed herself back to Kol. "You're likely worried that the relationship you have with me now has everything to do with our connection, but I promise you that everything I feel for you is natural. Pure. Nothing fabricated or placed."

He gently took her hand and kissed it. "I know that, darling, I've known that since the moment I laid eyes on you… I just can't believe you were there with me growing up, that you and Ylva are the same person."

She smiled then. "I'm not going to explain it again, it'll make me sound insane."

"Some things don't need to be explained."

"Exactly."

"But how do the Volturi know about you? What do they want with you?"

Bella slightly shrugged. "Likely to replicate the process or maybe see if my blood can give them the eternal life they want without having to turn into a vampire. My parents - Ylva's parents - were Volturi worshippers and that's how they know about me. Because I told them everything I knew as soon as I could," she let out a sigh and shook her head. "This is why I'm still here, inside my head, keeping this to myself, and not share it with…" she let out a snort. "It makes it all sound like we're different people, but we're not, we're all the same, but different versions. Improvements. Unfortunately, the only flaw that I currently possess is that I can't look after myself properly. I can feed myself, find a place to live, but…"

"Yeah, you're a little blind to danger," Kol grinned. "Just a tiny bit."

"I just want to see the best in everyone, and when burned, I tend to avoid those people for the rest of my life," she gently squeezed his hand. "But I can understand that you'll eventually grow bored and tired of me."

"Never," he smiled at her. "Don't you worry about that. I'll keep you safe. I'll protect you from yourself and the Volturi, that's my job. That's what was in my job description and even if it wasn't, I still would do it. You have no idea how your presence in my life, in our family's life, has made us all better and calmer - although Nik doesn't seem to be at this moment."

"I do," she smiled at him. "Now, it's time for you to leave."

"Can I ask you one more question?"

"Of course."

"Why this house?"

"Just like house 23 that's currently being built, this was my home. Despite everything, this felt like my home, and it was only fitting that I constructed it inside my head so that I always had a safe place to go to to hide," she replied as she slowly rose to her seat, once again revealing that this Bella was indeed, an old lady, despite her choice of words. "I am sorry it unnerves you both."

He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Whatever makes you happy and feel safe. I think it's sweet. Thank you for giving us some answers and validation of the Volturi scroll that we found."

"You need to leave now," she said a bit more urgently. "I'll have myself remember a little of what happened now, no need to worry."

He slowly nodded before grabbing his brother and pulled him out of Bella's head. "For a moment there I thought you two were stuck," Myriam greeted them, her arms crossed over her chest. "It's a good thing that Bella tends to talk in her sleep, you haven't been on your best behavior!" she said as she smacked Klaus on his head. "That girl has been nothing but kind to us and the mention of her being a result of your mother's doings was enough to send you in a rage," she hit him again. "You'd better apologize to her when she wakes up!"

Klaus huffed. "I will not. I'm well in my rights."

"No, you're not," Kol shot at his brother as he pulled the still sleeping Bella closer to him. He had given her mind a little nudge to wake up before he left her mind, knowing that they spent quite some time stomping around in her head and she had told him she needed most of the day to talk to the Elementals. The truck with the flowers had arrived too, and she needed to have something to eat. But she needed to wake on her own and that meant he had to deal with his brother for a while longer. Fortunately, Myriam was on their side too.

"She's a danger to us all."

"You don't believe that," Myriam hit Klaus on the head again. "You're simply threatened by her because she's impossible. And that girl won't even hurt a fly so you'd better stop thinking like this right now, Niklaus Mikaelson."

Bella stirred in his arms, letting out a frustrated whine. "Why did you stomp around in my head without me?" She whimpered, eyes still closed. "And I can't believe you knocked me out!"

"I figured you needed a little help," he smirked as he caressed her hair out of her face. "Hope you're well rested."

She huffed as she opened her eyes and squinted at him. "We were supposed to go together… now it's like I've been watching a movie or something."

"So, what do you think?" Kol asked carefully as he helped her to sit up.

"I don't care what I am. I bleed and therefore I'm human," she huffed as she pushed her hair out of her face. Finally fully awake, she looked at Klaus, feeling the paranoia, pain and anger roll off of him even though he seemed to be calmer now. "You want me to leave, don't you? You want me to get rid of Esther and then leave New Orleans."

"Don't even think about it," Myriam warned her with a growl. "You're staying right where you are, with us. Klaus will get over himself," she added as she handed Bella something to drink. "Now, eat, drink and don't you worry about Grumpy here."

Bella looked at Kol, his feelings were a lot calmer, towards her and Myriam, but there was anger towards his brother. Shaking her head, she ignored the emotions for now and did as she was told in silence. After finishing her sandwich, she spoke again. "I find it strange though that I didn't know the information that you got from my brain. It's my head, all me, and I didn't remember? I still don't, but the information is there."

"Sometimes our brains do the funniest things to protect ourselves," Myriam explained. "I doubt it'll be the same for you, but I think that's why the earliest version of you lingered around, to keep the information within you, but not immediately present and available to you to protect you."

"To be fair, if it hadn't been for our trip to the Cullen House, we would have never known about the threat against you. Now that we do, and were able to validate that, we can take every precaution, such as killing them all. Hunt them down, tear them apart and paint the walls red with their blood. You're too adorable to be hunted," Kol said as he softly kissed her. "Enough of that for now, we're here for a different reason, remember?"

"I sincerely hope that us being here outside of New Orleans will have her give it another shot, otherwise, we're going to be here for awhile," Bella let out a breath before getting to her feet and dusting herself off. "Unless Myriam can do a little Voodoo thingy to pull Esther here, that would be helpful."

"Oh, I could," she replied thoughtfully. "We still have time, don't we? I could zip back home to get some stuff? I'll leave the grumpy hybrid with you though."

"Thanks," Bella smiled at her before heading over to the van as Myriam sped off. It was filled with flowers, no spot untouched or unfilled, the only space that was in the van was the driver's seat. She admired the flowers for a few minutes, allowing herself to be hugged by the different scents, before she pulled off her shoes to ground herself to the ground, to get a better connection. "I don't really need to go barefoot," Bella said to Kol. "But it helps so much. Or it used to. Perhaps now that I'm stronger I don't need it anymore. But it feels nice to walk on the grass with no shoes on."

"Darling, you can do whatever you feel the need to," he smiled as he got out the camera. "I should film you a little bit, to show a different side of you for your channel as you pay your respects to the Elementals and the Native American deaths."

"Sure, just don't come too close, okay? Maybe later, but not now."

"Got it," he smiled as he settled in the grass to get a great angle of her ass as he zoomed in. "Oh… yep, great angle."

"Stop staring at my butt," she laughed as she took some of the flowers and headed towards the trees.

"What's this about not coming too close?" Klaus asked as he finally sat down to eat some of the food that Bella had bought. "Aren't you two supposed to be close?"

Kol briefly turned to face his brother before looking back at Bella, keeping an eye on her. "We're vampires, Nik," he reminded his brother, "Some spirits and entities just don't like us. You know this. It's always been this way, it's that we're now surrounded by it at all times that we're confronted by it."

"What about her wandering off?"

"It's daylight. There's two of us and one of her, we'll be fine," Kol smiled as he kept watching Bella. Their vampire hearing made it possible to hear what she was saying if she was vocalizing, and he _loved_ hearing her talk. Granted, he was a tad controlling outside, when at the Sanatorium, to make sure she wouldn't get lost inside everything and he had to admit, it's what he was looking out for right now, too.

He often wondered how the hell she functioned over the years without him. That Jake person never seemed to be all that interested, other than being more than willing to fight people who had found them because Bella always advertised it to her loyal viewers but then again, she'd been working on half of her powers, but even that was too much.

Kol then realized that Bella hadn't been functioning at all, mostly she'd been navigating through life as well as she could, but ever since they met and he started to help her, she'd been so much better. Despite everything that had happened in this short time, she'd become a real force to be reckoned with. Especially if she'd gain more control over her ability to possess someone or to poof out of existence, for her own protection.

Granted, should the family be in trouble, those abilities could prove to be a great asset to them as well, but he would never ask. Niklaus might demand it, but Myriam would give him hell for it too. In all honesty, the Volturi were the biggest threat to Bella. Those pesky humans were very very adaptable and versatile. Perhaps they could have a family outing to Volterra for Christmas and slaughter them all.

"What are you grinning about?" Klaus asked curiously.

"Ideas for a family trip for Christmas," Kol replied with a big smile on his face. "To our home in Rome."

Klaus was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Sounds like a plan. Volterra is only a quick sprint away from Rome, she'd never know what happened, only that we've been having fun."

"We'll tell her after the fact."

"Of course, it'll be her Christmas miracle," Klaus mused as he, too, was now looking at Bella who was walking back to the van to get more flowers. "Well, you tell her, Myriam and I will probably be defouling their throne room," he said with a knowing smirk. "She can never truly hold her blood."

"We've noticed," Kol replied and then noticed the little device sticking out of Bella's back pocket. "Little minx, she has her recorder on her, she never stops working."

"Perhaps soon, she is, after all, on a mission," his brother replied. "Perhaps you should take her some place magical this coming weekend after she's achieved what she's set out to do. You both deserve a break from all this madness."

"I'm not ever going to let her go, Nik. You better get used to all this extra madness."

"Nevertheless, you two deserve a break, you could even take young Gilbert with you."

"No," Kol shook his head. "No freaking way. It'll be me and Bella. Jeremy can have fun on his own, Bella and I are going to have a _magical_ weekend alright, in the most _magical_ place in the world." He then winked at Klaus. "Cinderella's castle."

'He's talking about taking you to Disney World and have sex in Cinderella's Castle,' Demi told her as Bella was putting down the flowers. 'That's what I miss about being alive.'

"What? Disney?"

'No! Sex!'

Bella let out a snort as she shook her head. Demi had followed her after having spotted her in Walmart and she had allowed her to, she was a recent death, somewhere in the last ten years, and she was fun. Demi certainly wasn't ready to move on yet as someone needed to keep an eye on her sister, who worked at Walmart.

'I mean, I can still get down to music, all I need to do is go to a club and all, but sex… I miss it.'

"You do know that I'm trying to appease the Native Americans here right? And their Elementals? I sincerely doubt that talking about sex is something that they'll respect."

Demi shrugged as she followed Bella around. 'Nobody's talking to me, you're the first one who sees me in years and who's talking to me as if I'm a normal person and not dead.'

"I could, if you wanted me to," Bella offered with a smile as she turned to get some more flowers.

'No.'

"Didn't think so," she let out a snort as she looked over to Klaus and Kol. "Everything okay?"

"Everything is great, darling," Kol grinned as he popped another strawberry in his mouth. "Although I doubt you should be doing this after we trampled around in your head."

Bella huffed. "I need to do this, can't allow her to become stronger, I'll sleep when I'm dead."

'That's quite an insensitive remark, you don't sleep when you're dead,' Demi deadpanned. 'I wish!'

"Well, you would get some rest if you'd move on. Your sister will be fine without you," Bella replied as she rolled her eyes at Demi. "She seemed to be doing okay when we were at the register and I didn't feel she was all over the place," she then turned back to Kol. "I'll be fine."

"Ghost?" he laughed.

"Yep, her name is Demi and she's a recent one. She misses the sex," she said chipper as she scooped up a few flowers. "She's worried about her sister, the person behind the register at Walmart."

"In what way?"

"All of the ways, I suppose, but she felt good, so I think it's more of a financial aspect."

'She's made some questionable choices in the past, she's doing good now, but what if something bad happens again?' Demi wondered.

"That's life, nothing is perfect," Bella shrugged and blinked when Klaus sped off. "Where is he off to?"

"Ah, I think he's going to make a contribution to Demi's sister's account, she'll be comfortable for the rest of her life, I promise," Kol said, looking at the space next to Bella. "You can watch him do what he does and then still decide if you want to go or not."

Bella pointed towards Walmart as Demi poofed out of existence. "He, nor you, should be doing that to appease the lost, before you know it, you'll be broke as fuck."

"And how many times do I have to tell you that money isn't an issue anymore?" He got to his feet and gestured to her to put the flowers down before hugging her tightly and kissing her. "Besides, Nik is impatient, he wants to get this over with."

"But there's no guarantee your mom will show up."

"Oh, she'll be here. Especially when aided by Myriam's voodoo magic. Don't worry."

"I think she'll be tough to get rid of, even with the help of the Elementals. I might have to pop over and use a lot of force."

"As long as you come back to me in one piece," he kissed her again. "Now, continue spreading your flowers and please ignore the wayward spirits, you have a job to do."

"Yes sir," she giggled as Kol playfully slapped her ass.


	24. Chapter 23

Bella was confident that her plan was going to work by the time it was time to have some dinner. She didn't want to leave the park, however, so Klaus went off to get them something proper to eat from a restaurant. Myriam had returned with some things that could be useful to compel a spirit to come to them from wherever they were, but she wasn't quite sure if it would work on Esther, as her own spirits had confirmed that Esther had become something else.

Myriam needed to do some preparation as well, so Bella explained to the Elementals and the Native American spirits that she, too, was a good vampire and wanting to aid them into making sure Esther would show up. That she wasn't going to harm them, only aid them and to enforce them even further. After getting the approval, Bella sat back down with Kol and Klaus and took a few sips from her drink.

Jeremy had been texting him every ten minutes, asking for help or to kill him or to kill Damon and compel Elena to leave him alone, but Kol had ignored them all. It wasn't until Bella saw his phone light up from another text message that she was curious and noticed that Kol hadn't been replying. "He's your friend!"

"Yeah, but it's his fault that Damon and Elena showed up! Let him feel the burn!"

"He's my friend," Bella said as she handed Kol his phone. "Be nice and tell him that we'll be back in the morning and that I'd love to properly meet his sister and her boyfriend. I'll be on my best mother hen behavior."

"So you won't tell them you put Jeremy up in a suite in a haunted hotel?"

"Oh, of course I will," Bella huffed. "One; it's not like he had to pay for it and two; who the fuck shows up like he did? It was bad enough I had to get used to you! Oh, and three, they didn't hurt him."

"Well, I kinda wished we had Jeremy here with us right now," Kol said as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Because you're going up against my mother and she's a wicked one. You'll be the only one able to see everything. I can't tell when something goes horribly wrong because I can't see it. And what if you do pop over to the other side? We'd lose track of you completely!"

"Have some of my blood. Not all, but just enough to give you a short while to be my backup. I'm sure Myriam can keep everyone else at bay for you," she turned in his lap and softly kissed him. "Hell, even Klaus can have some if he wishes."

"That is actually not a bad plan," Klaus replied thoughtfully. "If she truly wants to hurt you - and myself - I should be able to see her coming when needed."

"I don't like that idea," Kol shot at his brother as he possessively wrapped his arms around Bella. "She's mine," he added before looking at her. "Sharing your blood freely with other vampires is a no-no, Bella."

"He's your brother and he's in a well established relationship with a voodoo priestess. He's not some mutt off the street," she told him. "I trust him with it, do you?"

"Your blood is something special."

"He wanted me gone this afternoon and now he agrees with having my blood to see things for safety reasons. I'm not remotely interested in him as my partner or whatever. It'll also serve as a way for you to speak to your mother, say your peace if you want to."

Klaus smirked as he held up his glass. "You can get it straight from the vein, brother, I'll have it in here please."

"I still don't like it," Kol muttered with a sigh. It was the only option they had right now, and he was stupid enough to bring it up now that Jeremy wasn't here. He had made it difficult for himself. "When do you think you'll be ready?"

"As soon as Myriam's done, I think we'll be ready to go."

"Then you can keep your blood until Myriam's done. The effect is quite instantaneous and I think I should prepare Nik for the worst."

"Sorry to burst your bubble," Myriam said as she skidded to a halt next to them and dropped to her knees with a big smile on her face. "I couldn't help but to overhear while I was finishing up my spells and placing my objects all over but uh… Kol was only able to see the spirits after nearly draining you, Bella. I mean, sure, he may not need a lot now because I know he's a biter and surely has some of your blood already inside of him, but Klaus is a completely different story. Not only doesn't he have any of your blood inside of him, he's also a freaking hybrid. He needs more than Kol would need."

"I don't like where this is going," Kol muttered, pulling Bella even closer.

"Oh shush, you wuss, she can't die, however, I did pop by that stupid tea shop run by Ann to get her this iced tea, it's infused with herbs and shit that it'll almost negate the effects of blood loss and Bella will continue to function." Myriam then hesitated, knowing what she was going to say next was going to unnerve both Bella and Kol. "Klaus will have to drink straight from Bella."

Bella felt how the color drained from her face. "I withdraw my offer." Kol was upset and Bella couldn't help to be upset by it either, for different reasons. She trusted Kol, completely and without any thought, even after what happened in the Cullen House, because it hadn't been him, although it were his teeth that hurt her. She trusted Klaus, but she didn't really like the idea of him having to nearly drain her, too.

"It's either that, or possess Klaus for like… a good 15 minutes," Myriam shrugged.

"Oh hell no," Klaus objected vigorously. "That's not going to happen. I possess people from time to time to hide, but they will not possess me!"

"Seriously, you were inside her head," Myriam pointed out before looking at Bella. "You allowed Klaus in your head, you could have thrown him out but you didn't. He's a gentle biter and with a little of Kol's blood inside of you and this iced tea, you'll be good to go. Not completely 100%, but you'll be good to go. I, too, think it's better if both brothers can see what you're up to and keep an eye on Esther if need be. Consult with the Elementals if you wish, but I think they'll agree. It'll only hurt for a short while. Have them both drink from you at the same time will be even better and quicker."

"And you're sure this _iced tea_ will work?" Kol spat at Myriam, still not fond of having to share Bella's blood with his brother, especially with him drinking straight from a vein as well. They'd shared preys in the past without any issues, but Bella wasn't a prey. She was his. And his alone.

Myriam shrugged. "With Ann you may never know. For all we know Bella could sprout an extra head or something, but as much as I dislike Ann, she does know her things and she thinks Bella is amazing so I doubt she'd have given me this if it wasn't kosher."

"I don't like the feeling of being blind when it comes to dealings with our mother," Klaus said gently. "I have excellent control, Bella, and I will stop when I feel the effects of your blood, that is a promise."

"Nik, I swear-" Kol started.

"I don't want her possessing me!" Klaus shot back at his brother, before both vampires looked at Bella in shock when she had quickly slit her wrists with one of the knives from the restaurant.

"Drink up," she muttered as she leaned into Kol, wincing as the wounds hurt.

"You're insane!" Kol blurted as he let go of her and put his hands on her wounds to stop them from bleeding. "Bella, you can't do this."

"I can and I did. I'm a tool, I get that, don't worry, just drink and then feed me that tea and your blood and we'll see what happens. Just hurry because this hurts."

"She's made her choice," Myriam said, gesturing to Bella's wrists. "Drink deep, Klaus."

"Just don't freak out when you see weird shit," Kol muttered as he released Bella's wrists and took one in his mouth after biting in his hand to feed her his blood as he drank. He could hear her heartbeat and how it started to beat irregular for a short moment of time before picking up again after she had drank a significant amount of his blood. Her body tried to crawl into his as he drank, but immediately stopped when he noticed Native American looking spirits stand at the treeline. "Uh, they'll stay there, right?" He asked a bit apprehensively as he used his closing wound to close the wound on her wrist.

"Yeah…" Bella let out a deep breath. "Woozy."

"You're stupid," Kol scolded her as he reached for the iced tea and helped her to drink it while Klaus still fed on her. "This is your own fault, you know. You don't have to sacrifice yourself all the time. Sure, we just found out that you can't die, but this is not what you're supposed to be doing and granted, you're doing this for us and we really appreciate it but no more heroics, got it?"

"We'll see," she smiled at him, her eyes slightly unfocused as she clutched the bottle and continued to drink the tea.

Klaus released Bella's wrist with a gasp, his hybrid façade fading as he looked around in shock and fell back on his butt as he kept looking around. "We have all of this surrounding us and you're not saying anything?"

"Why should I? I'm the only one who deals with them, not even Jeremy sees them all the time unless he tries really hard," Bella replied and watched as the wounds on her wrist healed up. "Be glad we're here and not slap bang in the middle of New Orleans."

Myriam smirked as she put her arms around Klaus. "Don't worry, it'll likely wear off by the time we return to New Orleans and otherwise I'll just have to fetch that little Angel statue to help you out. Welcome to another part of Bella's world. What do you see?"

Klaus frustratingly motioned towards the treeline. "Native warriors, standing still, looking ahead. It's unnerving. Can't they turn around?"

"They're just as frightened of you as you are of them," Bella replied as she finished her iced tea and slowly rose to her feet. "Oh boy," she said as she wobbled a little but steadied herself before falling over. "Uh… On top of everything Kol has no doubt told you about how I work and what I desire from you… I want to add the fact that I truly hope you are also in control over your emotions and keep them away from me. My blood is also enhancing the emotions that I feel from you."

"That's going to get mightily interesting when these two see their mother," Myriam let out a snort as she curiously eyed Bella. "You need to eat some more before you do anything else."

Bella took the banana Kol was offering and curiously walked towards the river bed. "Well that's odd," she muttered to herself as she tried to make sense of what she saw. "There's something here that doesn't have anything to do with the people that are here…" She took a bite of her banana and kept her eyes on the thing. "It looks like a person wrapped in plastic, obviously in distress. Uh, a woman. She's definitely not a part of what's here, they are ignoring her."

"Bella," Kol was next to her in an instant. "She could very well be a distraction created by Esther. I don't see her."

"I don't think you're meant to," she replied as she circled the wrapped up spirit curiously. "This is a warning meant for me. I'm getting a 'don't help me' message. The feeling as if she's the barrier between me and something…" The spirit disappeared instantaneously. "It was Val."

"And what did I tell you about her?"

"She's in trouble, Kol. I still don't think I'm strong enough to help her, but I will, eventually," she sighed before venturing deeper into the woods, passed the flowers.

"For fuck's sake, Bella, you need to eat something other than that banana!" Kol scowled as he followed her. "Magic or not, you're walking around with not a lot of blood inside of you!"

"I feel fine, let's get this over with because I'm so incredibly fed up with everything. Having to take you with me for protection and use Niklaus as an extra incentive for Esther to come around? I'm not what everyone believes I am, I'm a weak baby and no match for Esther," she snarled as she stood frozen between several elementals. "Ah, and of course, use the Elementals. Tiny ball of energy can't get rid of a simple Ghost Witch."

Kol blinked and cocked his head. This wasn't Bella. She never called his brother Niklaus and she was usually so self assured. Looking closely it was as if another person was pasted over her. "Bella, darling, you're not yourself, come have some more food to make you stronger," he said as he held out his hand to her. "Myriam can help you." This whole 'draining Bella so that they can see ghosts too' had been a bad idea, despite Ann's tea. "Come."

Bella chuckled darkly. "Did you know that I could easily kill you now? So much damage energy could do…"

"Bella." Before Kol knew it, Bella's arm turned into a bright white light and she pushed it right inside of him. Klaus and Myriam were right by his side immediately, Klaus seemingly confused by what he saw before jumping into action and prying Not-Bella away from Kol. "Oh… that was unpleasant," he groaned as he inspected the damage, seemingly there wasn't any.

"It's typical of mother to take advantage of someone who has been temporarily weakened," Klaus muttered as he held Bella tightly, not caring at this point if he was holding her too tight. If he'd break her bones, it'd be an easy fix once they got rid of their murderous parent. "Stop it," he told her and then looked at Myriam, shaking his head as she wanted to cleanse Bella from the possession. "Clean her now and we'll have a more difficult time dealing with the bitch."

"But now she's capable of physically hurting you," Myriam countered, but taking a step back anyway.

Kol sighed as he looked around them. The Elementals and the Native American warrior spirits had surrounded them, there was no place to go for Esther, even if she wanted to. "Oi, you lot," he said, addressing them and feeling incredibly silly for doing so. "Bella came here for your help to get rid of this very twisted spirit that has now taken her over. She's never done anything to hurt you or to disrespect you, please, for once, help her fight this possession and get rid of it for good."

"The vessel might die," one of the warriors, actually more like a shaman, replied as he stepped forward. "Are you willing to take that risk?"

"She's immortal."

"Her light may dim. The _Telek'sen_ is evolved and the vessel is weakened."

"I'm willing to take that risk."

"But is she?"

Kol sighed as he scratched his head, helplessly looking at Myriam. "Do you think Bella wouldn't mind sacrificing herself to get rid of Esther?"

"In what way?" Myriam asked worriedly. "As if not being with us anymore?"

"No, the shaman here is talking about her light. That it may dim because she's weakened by the blood loss. Ann's tea is only barely keeping her up."

"We both know that it has several meanings, Kol, that doesn't mean that she'll be taken away from you. If she loses her powers, or at least the intensity of them, then I think she'll be alright with that, because Esther is a downright menace and a danger."

"I'm not sure though."

"What do you want to do, Kol? You want to force feed her so not only Bella gets stronger, but at the same time Esther does as well? She could have killed you!"

"Chances are that Bella IS strong enough and she'll pull through," Klaus said as he was still holding the girl, her mouth covered with his hand as she barely struggled. He didn't want to hear her speak, his mother's words out of Bella's mouth was just wrong. Kol had been right, Bella had been up too quickly and had needed more; she was barely alive as it were. "She likes to keep us on our toes, remember? Perhaps Bella is the one holding mother down, we all know she can escape possession, even in her weakened state she'd be able to do so. There is no movement coming from Bella right now."

Kol scowled at that. "No warning, nothing whatsoever, and our bitch mother takes her over."

"Weakened Bella," Myriam reminded him. "Just tell the shaman to go ahead, it's what Bella would have wanted anyway."

"I swear, I'm going to force food on her next time, tie her up if need be," Kol scowled, still, before addressing the shaman. "We understand the risks, please, help Bella help us."

Kol wasn't sure what happened next. Bella was ripped out of Klaus' grasp by a handful of warrior spirits and dragged off towards the direction of the Elementals. The other spirits blocked their path when they wanted to go after Bella, and all Kol could see from the distance is one bright light. All he could hear were Bella's cries for help before everything went dark and the warrior spirits opened their ranks to allow Kol through to fetch Bella.

He found her unconscious on the ground with the shaman standing next to her. "What you did, allowing her to give the sight to you and your kin with the aid of magic, was wrong," the shaman said sternly. "You are supposed to be her protector, not the one who endangers her. You are fortunate that it ended well, aided by her love for you, Bella was stronger than she appeared and held the _Telek'sen_ hostage in her own vessel."

Kol scooped her up after making sure she was physically alright. "My apologies," Kol said, a hint of spite in his voice. "But the resident voodoo priestess thought it would be safer for all of us if my brother Nik could see you, and Esther, too. I was opposed to this."

"For the wrong reasons, yes," the shaman replied. "She will sleep for a day or two, perhaps longer, she needs to recover in a safe place but I understand you have one. She fought the _Telek'sen_ valiantly with the containment of our brethren. Be prepared, soon, you will be tested. You, Bella and your companion the Hunter. The Volturi will be watching. Keep her safe."

"I always do, she gets herself into trouble!"

The shaman smiled before disappearing.

Kol took Bella back to the clearing and found that Myriam had already packed up their things. "She's fine, she's recharging. We're going home and I'll take her to the apartment."

"I'll drive," Myriam said as she lifted up the bag. "I'm not going to have to fear for my own safety when a ghost decides to pop in the car and startles the driver." She looked at Klaus, who was still looking around in wonder. "I think we have a convert."

"You certainly do not!" Klaus huffed. "I don't wish to experience this again!"

Myriam let out a snort as she opened the car. "But Esther is gone?"

"I believe so, yes," Kol replied, letting out a breath as he got into the car with Bella in his arms, shifting a little to make sure she was comfortable. "Hopefully for good this time."

"She'd better be or your girl is a hack!"

"Nik!" Kol growled at him. "Honestly!"

"Don't fight," Myriam said as she got into the driver's seat. "Fight and it will take us longer to get home because I _will_ go for detours until you two play nice! Klaus, you're merely paranoid and freaked out by your experiences today and there's nothing wrong with Bella, she's the same Bella was we came to know her. Stop it," she said angrily as she looked over to him as he got into the car. "Do I have to take the scenic route home?"

"No, sweetheart," Klaus muttered as he closed the door. "I'll play nice."

"Good," Myriam said as she started the car and drove off.

~o.O.o~

Kol didn't leave Bella's side for the four days that she was out, only to get some blood from the fridge, but he stayed with her in their apartment. When she finally started to wake, he let out a sigh of relief. "Welcome back," he said softly, smiling at her as she opened her eyes. "You've been out for four days."

"Did I miss Jeremy's sister and her boyfriend?"

"No," he let out a snort. "They're already gone, they're easy to miss, not important. How are you feeling?"

Bella let out a groan as she sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. "Icky. As if I was hit by a truck. I'm never ever going to do that again. Have you both drink from me and then fight with your mother. What a bitch."

"You could have warned us."

"I didn't see her coming," she sighed as her stomach rumbled. "I'm going to take a shower and freshen up, what do you want to do today?"

"I want you to take it easy today," he replied as he lifted her out of bed and carried her to the bathroom. "I'm going to arrange a lovely spread of food and you and I are going to stay indoors."

"But I feel fine."

"And you've been unconscious for four days, I want you to take it easy. No discussion."

Bella grumbled as he set her down in the bathroom. "Fine," she replied. Granted, this was a new experience for her but most certainly for him, that she had to recharge as much as she had. She was definitely not human although she appeared to be in every shape that she was. However, she was feeling quite like herself, ready to face the world and Kol wanted her to stay inside. Maybe she could entice him to go outside later. Or perhaps she could persuade him to finally open that damn package that she had bought him so they could have some fun in bed! "But I want you to open your present so we can play with it after you've fed me."

"Very well, darling, whatever you wish," he smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to inform Jeremy and Myriam that you're awake again while I take care of our food and you take a nice shower." Kol was wondering why she was being a little grumpy, she had always accepted his help, but he wasn't sure what was wrong now.

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

Unsure now, he cocked his head. "Why are you being a little out of sorts?" He felt stupid for asking now, of course she was grumpy because she'd just been down for four days!

"Because I'm fine and you don't believe me," she said as she gently tapped on his cheek. "But that's alright, you had a fright and your immediate instinct is to go into smother mode, it's adorable, in a way."

"I'm not-"

"Yes, you are. And if you tell Myriam I'm awake, she'll come over and do the same."

"No she wouldn't!"

She raised an eyebrow. "I dare you. If she does what you're doing, you're taking me out to dinner. If she doesn't, I'm staying inside, with you."

In the end, Bella came out victorious. Myriam was waiting for her, quite impatiently, to leave the bathroom after she was done, using her totems to cleanse Bella and making sure she was physically alright. Told her to sit down and rest up. To eat something. It got to a point where Bella was so annoyed that she managed to poof out to the other realm and get out of the house, going to the predetermined restaurant to wait for Kol.

When he arrived, finally after nearly 30 minutes, she was on her second appletini and just looked at him.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'll try to be better," he apologized. "I honestly didn't realize it was that bad."

"You all need a puppy. I get it that you were all afraid of what had happened, and so was I, but this behaviour is a little over the top, don't you think? We'll get everyone a puppy. You can all go on doggy walks together."

He laughed. "Do you honestly believe that Niklaus, or Elijah even, would be caught dead walking a dog?"

"We'll get them a pretty poodle," Bella mused as she took a sip of her drink. "Myriam will get a fluffy St. Bernard."

"How about we don't give the family puppies and just have a meal together?" Kol laughed as he took the menu and started to read it. "I'm glad you're feeling alright, though. You had me worried."

"I know, and it's likely not going to happen again if I watch what I'm doing. Not to express too much energy. Like… cleansing an entire building or something. Not going to do that. Not all at once… and I'm certainly not going to allow someone as powerful like your mother to enter me anymore, either. Holy shit, she was struggling against my energy, it was insane. Next time I'll just force them out, no matter how hard it'll get to get rid of them."

"Good to hear," he smiled at her and flagged down a waiter to get their orders. This was a day to celebrate. His Bella could have everything she wanted, even another appletini. It was five o'clock somewhere, wasn't it?


	25. Chapter 24

Over the next few weeks they played some more in the Sanatorium and Bella decided to keep the basement area in tact. Yes, it was dark energy there, due to all the rituals done in that place, but the people stuck down there didn't deserve to move on. They were bad and dark and weren't harming anyone. Besides, the Sanatorium was such a much trampled on building, popular with ghost hunters, Bella just had to leave the building in tact as it was.

Kol and Jeremy were playing a videogame on the couch while Bella was checking up on emails on the laptop when her phone rang. She was curious about the phone call, as it was Drew and he rarely called her to begin with.

"Hey, Drew! How are you?"

At the mention of Drew's name, Kol and Jeremy paused the game and came over to her, gathering around her and the phone. " _Busy,"_ Drew laughed. " _We've been doing investigations non-stop since the new owner of the TV channel took over, apparently we're on our way out."_

"Well, you have been doing this for what? Ten years now? Format barely changes and you have dreams that are bigger than hanging around with your friends."

" _We love doing this stuff, you know that. Despite everything and all the attachments we need to be cleansed of, we love doing this together. And I do my own thing in the offseason, but still. To hear that your show might get canned because of silly reasons is just strange, our fanbase is huge."_

She smiled then. "You have a large fanbase because you and Jace are hunks and Jace occasionally goes shirtless," she pointed out before realizing that he was going to ask her something. "You're not going to ask me to come onto the show, are you? You already know my answer."

Drew groaned. " _I'm not. However, the boss gave us basically a blank cheque in bid to save our own ass for Halloween. We're doing a live Halloween special at a location not known to us but the producers and they told us to go all out. We're going to get experts we've worked with over the years to come and join us in some experiments or rituals, all that funky stuff and see if we can get scientific proof of their abilities and maybe you know, apparitions and stuff."_

"That sounds great, a lot of people you've worked with over the years have become your friends, haven't they?"

" _Oh yeah, so far the exorcist we've worked with is coming, of course the electrical engineer Norm, a white witch called Linda and someone who claims to be a vampire."_

"What?"

" _I kid you not, Bella. Jace met him on one of his other shows. He's like this central figure in the vampire subculture of Steampunk and knows a lot about the psychology, philosophy and spirituality. He makes fangs for a living and dabbles in the occult. Jace wants him on for shits and giggles against our tested white witch and equipment."_

Bella looked at Kol who was shaking his head in disbelief. "Sounds like a hoot, Drew. We'll make sure to tune in," she laughed. "We'll get the popcorn out and everything."

" _It's a shame we can't call Astaria, she's on a different network and all…"_

"Astaria would turn you down, too," Bella pointed out. "She and I have the same opinion about you guys and it's not a good one, you know this."

" _But you like me, right?"_

"You, yes. Jace's energy… no."

" _But you owe me one. Jace is watching your videos of the Cullen House religiously each time they come out. The new boss is a fan too and even said that I could offer you a lot of money for this, to make sure that you'll never have to wish for anything anymore for the rest of your life."_

Bella let out a groan and rubbed her eyes. "Not for a live event, Drew. Please don't call for that favor now. You don't know where we'll be, and I find that dangerous. My guys won't like that either. I already have one that needs to stay off camera and he will not like it that he doesn't know where we're going."

" _How bad can it be?"_

"Pretty bad? Besides, I'm not a science project. I had hoped that the favor would be to go over to some poor person's house and help them out with their ghostly problems or whatever, not something as big as this."

" _Your presence might actually be the only way we'll get the views to keep our show going. I promise we'll look after you and you'll get everything you need or want. I'm not one to beg, Bella, you know this. We're friends, aren't we?"_

Bella sighed as she looked at Kol and Jeremy. "Well?"

"Your fans are going to love it," Jeremy started with the positive. "You'll get more views on your youtube channel and more fans. You'll help out a friend, what you love to do. However, we won't be in control of what people will see or hear. We won't be in control over the experiments because that's on them. Kol won't be able to be with us so you'll have to be tethered to me. We won't be in control over the location, because we can't get a history on it, but then again, neither can Drew and his friends. Because we don't know what we're getting ourselves into, we're going to need a big survival bag with things in there that could protect us."

" _You don't have to bring your own equipment, either,"_ Drew pointed out. " _We have plenty to spare."_

"I don't like this idea," Kol eventually spoke. "Not at all. That shaman from the other day? Said we were going to be tested soon, what if this is just that? I don't like it. No."

"What if we bring Klaus and Myriam for extra protection? Myriam would love the experience and you and Klaus can keep an eye out on the outside," Bella suggested reluctantly. "Look, I don't like this idea either, but my friend is about to lose his job and I do owe him one. So you can blame me when things go to pot."

" _No, you can blame me. If the producers and the tv exec are putting us in harm's way, then it's on me, but I trust them. Well, I trust the producers, never met the new TV boss."_

"Can we kill him when things go wrong?" Kol hissed.

" _I heard that."_

"So, is that a reluctant yes then?" Bella let out a breath as she scratched her head.

"A very reluctant 'yes'. I still don't like it," Kol replied. "But I know you tend to keep your word, so yeah… this is something you'll have to do."

" _Great!"_ Drew exclaimed. " _Thank you, so much, Bella. We'll email you with the details of how you're going to be picked up and you can send us an email back with what your requirements are, but I think I can guess them quite well."_

"Yeah, just don't party hard because I said 'yes', I don't want to be the main attraction, you hear me?"

" _Gotcha. See you soon!"_ Drew then hung up.

"I'm still not happy with this," Kol said again, shaking his head. "I'll be going to Myriam to discuss that survival bag of tricks and go dig for some dark objects, just in case," he said as he ran out the door.

"He's in mommy-mode again," Jeremy snorted as he grabbed Bella's laptop to do some research on the new tv boss for Bella's friends but even after half an hour of searching, he came up empty. "There's nothing on the new boss. Nothing."

"So?"

"This worries me, what if it's Edward Cullen?"

"Oh, come on, Jer," Bella sighed as she finished making tea and gave him a mug. "Do you honestly believe he'd go as far as buying a TV station, channel or whatever, manipulate my friends in thinking they're going to lose their jobs only to get to me?"

"I wouldn't put it passed him," he shrugged. "People have done worse and he does believe you're the only one who can find the secrets within his house. We haven't seen anything new from him in weeks and we know he's obsessed with you and that house."

"He has an attachment to that house or the house to him. The dead Cullens don't even want him there and are trying to keep him out, they're protecting the basement and hide it because they don't want him to know what's there. That's the only reason why the house is so terribly haunted. That, and all the people he's invited over over the years, bringing in more people, opening portals, doing rituals," she then shuddered at the thought. "Don't tell Kol about your suspicions, he'll go nuts."

Jeremy huffed and then showed her the tweet that the guys from Spooky Investigations threw out. _Join us for our Halloween live event! 12 hours live on Halloween with special guests! Father Christian and White Witch Linda, for example! (1/2)_

 _And we've also managed to get the one person who never comes on TV shows but has her own following on youtube, who is it? (2/2)_

Bella shrugged as she took a sip of her tea. "It'll be fine, I'm not worried. Besides, I don't think Drew is giving up on finding out about the location and he knows we're not going back _there_."

"And once again, you don't like to think of the worst case scenario. But that's okay, that's what you have Kol and me for," Jeremy rolled his eyes at her. "What are we doing for food?"

"We?"

"Yes?"

"I was going to make lasagna…"

"Awesome, I'm staying for dinner."

Kol returned in time for dinner, but carrying one of his boxes with Dark Objects to sort through and had many ideas of creating other objects with a powerful witch. For example, a ghost grenade that could banish them from an area or something when things got too rough and Bella too tired. Or to use them instead of Bella using her powers.

The plan for the night was to record a few things in the cemetery, now that the Ancestors had mellowed out and had somewhat accepted Bella into New Orleans, it was likely that the City of the Dead was filled with spirits again. And if not, if it was just Kaleb there, they'd go to some other cemetery. There were plenty of those in New Orleans.

Bella really liked how well they were working together as a team, Jeremy and Kol knew exactly what to do and what to bring with and she had finally learned to give up the control. It was still a shame about the Wonderbox that Damon Salvatore had ruined, but after giving it some thought, and despite all the noise it made, Bella had agreed to get two SB7 spirit boxes and an external speaker for it to make it sound less noisy, and both Kol and Jeremy were more than excited to try them out.

She loved it when the guys were in geek mode and with their gadgets and toys. She wouldn't be surprised if Kol had bought more stuff but hadn't told her about yet. And more importantly, she didn't feel like she _had_ to go out. They had plenty of footage of the Sanatorium, and still of the Cullen House, to keep the youtube channel filled and updated, and this was more of a 'family outing' for them, and for her and Jeremy to keep working with what they could do.

Besides, Bella couldn't sit still. There were always stories to find, and, if the Ancestors were nicer to her now, perhaps she could tell some stories of the dead witches. She merely wanted it to be conflict free like it had been for the last few weeks. Nice and easy. Nothing too scary or to intense. So she'd be very happy if it were just Kaleb.

She had bought some flowers and a teddy bear for him to keep him company, silly, maybe, but she felt a bit guilty for not having been visiting him while she had told him she'd do so. Bella had been too involved with her own stuff. No, she needed to give more and go back to what she was about. Stories and bringing gifts for the dead. Making sure their stories were heard, if they didn't have anything to do with the supernatural, of course.

They were on their way to LaFayette when a mixed group of young people recognized Bella. It had started to become more frequent and it had started to become more annoying. Kol wanted to compel them all to leave Bella alone and especially to stop taking pictures with her. It was likely going to get worse after her appearing on Spooky Investigations' Halloween special. "Alright, that's enough," Kol said as he moved himself between the people and Bella, protectively putting an arm around her. "We've got places to be, enjoy your time in New Orleans, it's a wonderful place."

"Kol."

"You hired me to keep you safe," he said as he lead her away from the group. "This was too big of a group of people. Next time we go out you're poofing out. Maybe we'll move, and you won't tell anybody where you're moving to."

"Kol."

"What if there's a nutter and follows us back home, huh? Then they'll know the address to our safe place, people could show up at the strangest moments or hours. No. Not that I wouldn't mind a snack or two, fresh from the vein instead of a blood bag, but no. Privacy, Bella," he said resolutely and kept marching her forward. "Do you have any idea what we need to do to make sure that your Halloween survival bag is actually functional? That Myriam's little pouches work? That it's going to take a lot of work because we don't know where you're going to end up and we know you're not going to use the things in that bag anyway because you're you?"

"Kol," she said his name again and then pinched him. "Breathe. Nothing's going to happen, everything is going to be fine. Relax, will you, you're driving me nuts."

"Good, although I'd rather have you scared like you were before so you would have said 'no' to Drew no matter what. That you'd have avoided that group of people just now because you're scared," he said angrily. "But you're not scared anymore so I have to up my game in keeping you safe. Will you listen to me? Likely not, but hey, who cares if you destroy yourself! That scuffle with that wench that is my mother could have ended differently, you know. You got lucky. I don't want you to be damaged so you need to poof out of existence for what? Another hundred years until all your previous incarnations are confident that this time you won't make any mistakes?" He kept on ranting and Bella shot a look at Jeremy, who was merely grinning at the two of them. "I don't want to lose you, Bella, and I hate it that you're going to do this thing for Drew because I can't be with you and you'll have to be with Jeremy. For all we know they're going to take you to the Cullen House. No doubt things have escalated since we were there last and I don't want to lose you."

"Hey," she stopped walking and forced him to stop. "You're not going to lose me," she let out a breath. Oh, she knew that his feelings were _intense_ and _heightened_ and it had not been the first time he'd been flipping out about her safety. "I could choose a different path. I can help people differently."

"Or not advertise your 'gift' on youtube, that would be a great help. Let's stop doing that."

"You're not serious," Jeremy huffed. "That's just a little harmless fun."

"And the whole world can see what she does. It'd be a start for her safety to stop that," Kol shot at Jeremy. "Or did you forget about the Volturi who are after her? We should go to Italy and slaughter them all, but we're not going to, are we? Because they're far away still. Why kill them when they haven't done anything bad, so far?"

Bella sighed as she turned Kol around and started to push him back towards the apartment. "Let's go home," she said as she kept pushing him. "Let's discuss this within the safety of our walls and make a plan that we can all find ourselves in."

"You're not serious," Jeremy said again, this time directed towards Bella. "You're actually going to let him do this?"

"Things have changed since I hired him and adopted you," Bella replied with a shrug. "We've been through some heavy shit together, we've gotten used to each other, it's time to amend my rules and re-evaluate what we're doing, have been doing, and if it's still working for us."

"It is!"

"It's not," Kol scowled as he put his arm around Bella, glad that they were going home via a detour for now. He wouldn't want to risk running into that group of people again and have a feast in the middle of the street. Well, he wanted to, but it was probably best if that wasn't going to happen. "She's _still_ making all the decisions."

"She's gotten better!" Jeremy huffed.

"Not here, wait until we're back at the apartment," Bella chided both Kol and Jeremy. A short while later, they were back at the apartment and Kol started to rant again, and Bella listened for awhile as a million thoughts were going through her mind. While Kol's voice was the only one filling the apartment, with the occasional objection from Jeremy, she checked to see if everything was complete, done and well stocked. She needed a break from this.

She could understand Kol's point of view. And perhaps he was right in everything, but the way that he was dealing with this was not appropriate, and she couldn't stop him. In any case, she needed her space, clear her head and re-evaluate things, come up with a plan that her boys would be able to find themselves in too. Placing her phone on the kitchen counter, she looked at Kol before she made herself into pure energy and shot out of the window, going to the last place that Kol would look to find her; her father.

Bella hoped that after Klaus and Myriam's treatment her father would be better to her, and she wanted to inhale his scent, she wanted to breathe in the forest and clear her mind. Enough was enough. Or maybe it wasn't. It was highly likely that she was wrong and Kol was right, that her new found self-awareness and self-confidence were throwing a wrench in her life, because it was a fact that she couldn't take care of herself.

On her way to her father, her thoughts kept swirling inside her head before the old Bella, Ylva, popped up to accompany her on her journey. "Well, this is a first," she remarked as she looked at the scenery passing them by. "Talking to you like this and you moving like this. How does it feel?"

"Truthfully? Freeing. I have no body to contain me and this feels amazing," Bella replied. "I can go as fast as I want! Nobody telling me what to do or how to act or telling me what not to do…"

"He's only looking out for you, Bella, he's doing exactly what you've initially hired him to do and you're not comfortable with that," Ylva said kindly. "On the other hand, Kol might have become a little bit obsessive about your safety."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't already know."

"He means well."

"I have no doubt about his intentions, but it makes me seriously reevaluate my life. Am I really that useless? Is Kol the right person for me if he keeps on trying to smother me? Am I only good for talking to ghosts and that's it? I mean…"

"You don't know any better than to talk to ghosts," Ylva let out a snort. "What are your other passions? Cooking, right? Perhaps a little change in your life couldn't do any harm."

"But what about the spirits that want to move on or want help or simply want to tell their story? It's what I do. Who am I without it? Will Kol still like me when I'm not doing what I do best? Or will he grow bored with me?"

"You'd still have it, Bella, but perhaps after the battle with the Volturi, you could take it all down a notch and rediscover yourself, find other passions, things to do. Something that doesn't cause a vampire to get grey hairs," Ylva laughed. "It's that easy. You're doing amazing in this life, you don't need a reboot, you just need to learn how to live and not remain focused on storytelling and dead people."

"Technically, Kol's dead."

"True, but he's not invisible. You could write books about all the stories you've heard over the years and occasionally go out and have some fun with the spirits. I'm not pushing you to stop what you're doing, because you're me and I'm you, but you're ready for some sort of normality. Because despite everything, you are scared that someone will get hurt again, or worse. Despite everything, you know that Kol's fear of losing you is valid because you nearly didn't return after your fight with Esther. That vampire loves you and you love him."

"So try to be normal for a while, huh?"

"Doesn't hurt to try, and _only_ after you've ended the Volturi for once and for all. I have a feeling that they know exactly where to find you, even though they don't know what you look like." Ylva then sighed. "And you're just stupid for agreeing to do that live TV show for Drew."

"I know I'm stupid, but I owed him one."

"Yeah, well, not as big as this one is so he'll owe you one in return, make that perfectly clear to him. Now, return to New Orleans, you've been away for days."

"Days!" Bella skidded to a halt and looked around, she didn't even recognize where she was. Thinking of Kol, she felt herself turn around and start moving again, faster this time.

"That's what happens when you turn into your natural self, time is lost, there's no time here, just energy. But I do hope that your mind is a bit more at ease now, less fearful and panicky. I have merely confirmed what you have been thinking for a while now and know that it's alright and a good thing, but all change is hard."

"Thanks, Ylva."

"Always here. Go down, now," she said urgently and Bella did as she was told, flying straight back into the apartment through the window and stopping in the kitchen before turning back into her human self.

"Oh for the love of God, you're so bright!" Kol groaned as he sat up from the couch and blinked at her. "Turn yourself off, you beacon!"

"What?" Bella looked at herself and the illuminated kitchen. "Oh, that's cool."

"Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" Kol got off the couch and started to walk towards her, but her light hurt him. "Darling, you really need to turn yourself off, I can't even go near you right now."

"I went flying, I turned into energy and I flew. Talked to myself and then she said I was gone for days, didn't mean to," Bella replied as she focused, hard. Not all of her energy had come together yet but then again, this had been her first time. Once she was contained, she could feel Kol's arms around her. "I'm sorry for running off… You were right," she muttered against his chest as she wrapped her arms around him. "So after the Halloween thing with Drew and his friends, we're going to do things your way and we're going after the Volturi. After that, I'll try to be normal for a while, find something else to do. Something new."

"What?"

She looked up to him with a smile. "Helping spirits to tell their story has been all that I know. It has gotten me in trouble throughout my life, but it's my normal. I want to try to shift it to something else, try something else. Like cooking. Discover other things that I can do, things that are safe, won't draw too much attention to me and won't put anyone of us in danger."

"Are you serious?"

"I am. I don't want to lose you, Kol, and I'm afraid that if we continue like we have, especially now that in your and Jeremy's presence the spirits have become more… aggravating… we might lose each other and I don't want that. I'm not saying I'll give up on the spirits all together, but I'm ready for a change. Will you help me with that?"

"Oh, darling," he kissed the top of her head. "Whatever you wish to do, of course I'll help you." Kol softly kissed her lips. "However, I am sorry too. I was pushy and obsessive and something had snapped inside of me, I shouldn't have been the way that I was, and now I fear that you want this change because of my bad behaviour."

"No," she smiled at him. "I've been thinking about a change for awhile now, especially after Esther. I want to fade into obscurity and… I don't know, open a bistro or a cake shop… or maybe write a book or go back to school or…"

"Stay at home all day, naked?" Kol grinned. "Become my housewifey?"

"Now that's a thought…"


	26. Chapter 25

Kol seemed to be happier after Bella told him that she wanted to try to find something else she would love to do, but he also told her that she shouldn't give up on the spirits, either. It was all about finding a balance and doing more research on where they were going first, not after, so they'd know what to expect. Jeremy was less than thrilled, but at least he was glad that they were still going forward as usual until the Volturi were dealt with.

Klaus and Myriam already opted to go to Italy and kill them all for Bella, but Bella wanted more information about them. Despite the general knowledge that the Mikaelsons had on the cult, she wanted to go deeper, find more. Elijah even offered his books for her, and scoured the internet for more obscure books, because as much as he wanted to get rid of the cult too - mainly because they were a pain in the ass and had come after the family once before, it was better to be prepared in dealing with them.

Perhaps they weren't dealing with ordinary humans in search of true immortality without the vampirism. Maybe there was more than met the eye.

But, all of that was of a later concern. It was October 31st and it was Halloween. A couple of days earlier they had received an email with a 'plan of attack', as Bella had requested so she could prepare herself. She, Jeremy and Kol were going to be picked up by a helicopter and flown around for a couple of hours before landing at the location. This was a precaution that Bella's opinions couldn't be tainted. She also didn't want to be there for the full twelve hours so she'd come in after they'd already done 4 hours of TV.

She, Kol and Jeremy weren't allowed to have their cellphones on them and they were going to be in the air before the show started so their friends and family couldn't tell them where they were going either. Kol already said he couldn't promise anything, but he'd turn his phone off and give the battery to Bella, his phone to Jeremy and he would compel anyone who would want to do a pat down.

Jeremy and Bella would not be split up, and be accompanied by either Drew or Hugo, seeing as Bella didn't like Jace's energy, but they were also going to be alone together to do some exploration of their own, in their own way. Bella had learned how to fake a seance from Myriam and a friendly witch incase she was going to be asked to hold one, but she sincerely doubted that she was going to be asked as White Witch Linda was a force to be reckoned with.

They had read up on Linda on the internet and she was a very powerful witch, there were even clips of TV shows she had been on previously that astounded even Kol and Jeremy. They hoped she wasn't going to be, but there was a chance that Linda could prove to be a problem for them if she were able to sense that Bella wasn't human, Kol was dead and Jeremy a magical powerhouse.

They didn't have to bring their own equipment, but they put an SB7 and a few voice recorders in their survival bag anyway. Said bag was filled with things that _Myriam_ would need in case she needed to come and help. There were several 'angel statues' in there, and some Dark Objects that could secure a room and get rid of spirits, good and bad.

Bella had vervain on her and had even, much to Kol's dismay, had drank vervain tea, just like Jeremy, although Jeremy couldn't be compelled. It was an extra layer of protection and reluctantly, Kol drank some too, although the experience had left him incredibly thirsty so he drank through nearly his entire supply at the apartment, but he felt it was worth it as it would make it even harder for potential evil ghosts to take him over. His siblings were much better at ingesting vervain for shits and giggles. He wasn't. He wasn't even going to be physically near the location and hang out in base camp, away from the cameras. But, better safe than sorry.

Bella didn't like flying around in the helicopter much; it was dark and noisy and she couldn't see where they were going. The pilot deliberately stayed away from any defining landmarks and it sucked. However, the closer they came to the time where they were scheduled to land at the location, the more agitated Bella got as they flew low over the woods, and she picked up whispers. "Fuck."

The camera man who had joined them switched on his camera and started filming. Of course he would, Bella had started to realize where they were going.

"Bella?"

"We're leaving, tell the pilot to pull up and take us home," she said as she looked out of the window to see the trees and the Elementals. "Bad place. Bad… bad… worse…" She felt the color drain from her face the closer they got to the location. "Oh, hell no. We're not going home, you're going to kill Drew for me!" Bella said angrily as she dug her nails into her legs. "And then we're going home."

"You've been here before then?" Kol let out a snort. "And not happy about it?"

She pointed at the house that was coming into view. "Neither are you."

"I _AM_ going to kill him!" Kol growled as he felt the panic rise within himself. There was no way that he was was going to allow Bella to go back into _that_ hellhole, especially since it was going to be without him. While Bella had been more playful about the whole killing Drew thing, Kol was deadly serious.

"Okay, calm down," Jeremy said to Kol. "We're still in the air, relax," he kicked the camera man. "Those two are going to need some time before they'll join the rest of you, if at all, but I'll come with you."

"How bad did things change?" Kol tried to calm himself as he looked at Bella, he was sitting next to the camera man to make sure he wasn't going to be caught on tape but he wanted to hold her, and tell her 'no'. "Can you already feel that?"

"There's so much negative energy here… it's like… dead from the area, and not from this area, like it here. There's this pull… like a vortex or a swirly thing in the water… Once the dead are caught in it, they can't ever leave. The dead can't die here… I mean… they can't leave. Their souls."

"Swirly thing in the water," Jeremy snorted. "It's called a whirlpool, Bella."

"Shut up, this isn't funny. I should have felt this when we were here without this entire circus below us so I could have tried to fix this!"

"There's no time like the present."

"I knew this house was a mess, but not to this extent. And it's only gotten worse. I feel really horrible. Physically and mentally… definitely need a moment when we land," Bella shuddered as it felt like an eternity before they were landing. "I think it's a good thing nobody living has lived here… but all this negativity… these ghosts… the pain… it became worse. You know those rituals Drew spoke about when we were here? Voodoo? Satanists? Witches? Yeah, it only got worse because more people were asked to come inside the house to do their thing. It's Halloween night, for fuck's sake, that house must be so damn active right now! It's not just the Cullens in there, as you know. Everyone. Good, bad… insane… Being sucked right in. If you were a good spirit and you're inside there, you'll turn bad eventually."

"We could just leave," Kol scowled. "Burn the place to the ground."

"I know we could do that, but you're not feeling what I'm feeling or seeing what I'm seeing… I'm not going to do this to help out Drew or please the fans… these ghosts need help, or at least the ghosts that were brought here. We can do this. Please, let me do this?"

Oh, Kol knew that they couldn't just leave this place. It was likely that Bella was going to make an attempt of helping the 'good, damaged spirits' and cleanse areas that were the worst, but that didn't take away that he wanted to burn this place to the ground. And he was likely going to do that as well once Bella gave him the all clear. On top of that, seeing as they were now investigating the Volturi, some useful information could be found in that basement. That bloody basement. "Fine," he eventually said as they were nearing the ground. "But he's going to turn himself on. Like… fully. No holding back and you and I are going to walk the grounds to get the lay of the land first before you join your _friends_ , maybe one of your other _friends_ could actually tell us how bad it is." He held out his hand for his phone and battery. "And you're going to need Myriam. Let me send her a message."

Bella let out a snort as they landed and pointed outside. "The pineapple is already here. No doubt she was watching at home and decided to come out to play when she found out where we were going."

As the door of the helicopter opened, more cameras greeted them. "Go do your walk, I'll explain to them what you're doing," Jeremy said as he hopped out, blocking the camera from filming Kol from the front so they could walk off.

When they were out of sight of the camera, Bella sat down against the house, digging her hands into the soil and closed her eyes. "The Native spirits don't want me to enter the house, same story as last time, but now there's more urgency in their words. However, the Elementals wish to help me, help us, with easing the discord in this house. Whatever spirits I can free, they will welcome with open arms or help them move on," she then slightly smiled. "They know what I can do now, who I am. The others have spread the word."

"Why can't they do it by themselves?"

"Because many years ago, all along the edges of the fence, someone threw up multiple wards to keep them out, but the Native Spirits in. Now, it's not such a bad thing to keep the Elementals out as it'll likely freak out the sensitives walking around, but I could open it just slightly so that the warriors can join their protectors and move on. It would certainly make my job a lot… quieter."

He helped her to her feet and walked with her to the edge of the property where she touched the fence to open it up, took her a bit longer than he expected but when she breathed a sigh of relief, he could feel cold air brush against him as the spirits walked passed them. "Oh, wow."

"Told you, they're with many," Bella smiled at him. "Speaking of which, you told Jeremy to turn himself on, would you like a little of my blood? I know you're not coming inside with me, and you can't actually see things on the cameras, but who knows? Jasper might want to tell you things."

"He's still here and he's not gone insane?"

"He's still here," Bella smiled as she thumbed over her shoulder. "He's really happy to see us again, but had hoped not to see us again, of course."

Kol scowled. He didn't want to remove blood from her, even if it would be an insignificant amount. She needed to be at full strength. "I kinda wished we had the Ovilus with us on this walk…"

"Take some of my blood, I promise I won't do anything straining for the next hour until I've had something to eat and drink," Bella said as she pulled him away from the fence and back towards the house to continue to follow the walls. "Jasper merely wants to make sure you're safe, too."

"Well, that's nice of him, but I'm not compromising your safety despite your promise of ingesting some food before you start working," Kol put an arm around her and sighed as he looked up the facade of the house. "I do feel the energy, somewhat," he admitted. "It must be terrible inside."

Bella let out a snort. "I'm still feeling physically and mentally horrible, as if I need to throw up, it's slowly passing, but I doubt it'll go away," she pointed to the windows to point out ghosts stuck against the window. "They've plastered the ghosts against the windows as if they're wallpaper, they can barely talk, but from what I can tell is that they were brought here by various mediums who knew exactly what they were doing. They allowed the spirits to attach themselves to them and then they brought them here, dumped them, the vortexes sucked them right off of them," she explained, pain obviously etched upon her face. "Good mediums take spirits somewhere else to release them, not bring them to this house of horrors."

"Guys," Jeremy came running to them just as they were turning the corner to go to the back of the house. "The new TV boss is Cullen, but they're keeping him in a separate mobile home because Drew threw a fit," he said with a smirk. "And sorry, Kol, but Myriam put up a protection barrier around him so he can't get out and you can't get in."

Feeling Kol's rage, Bella slammed the wall of the house, accidentally using her energy to shake the house and freeing some of the plastered spirits. "He's a dead man!" She exclaimed, slamming the house with her flat hand again, ignoring the pain. "Oh, I'm going to…"

"Breathe," Jeremy grabbed her by her shoulders and made her look at him. "Breathe and stop hurting yourself and exerting your energy, the evening is just beginning."

She growled as she took a deep breath, closing her eyes, ridding herself of Kol's emotions that had washed over her. "Don't worry, I'll think of a plan that doesn't involve killing him but does involve him making an ass out of himself," she eventually said after she had centered herself before turning to Kol and rubbed his arm. "I will take care of it."

"Bella… I- so help me…"

"I. Will. Take. Care. Of. It," she said slowly and cupped his cheek. "He will feel our wrath, and that of the Cullens and the spirits inside this house."

"The Cullens!" Kol scoffed and rolled his eyes, anger still rolling off of him. "Now that's preposterous!"

"Yes, Emmett and Carlisle are evil, but they were bad in life too. But the family is protecting the basement, protecting the secrets of the Volturi and they don't want Edward to be a part of it because he's a loser. In a way, they're victims too."

"They tried to kill you, Bella, they don't deserve your wrath," Kol whined as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stop being so nice about ghosts who are pure evil, it only makes things worse!"

"And how many times do I have to tell you that we have to be kind to all spirits as much as we can? Yes, I'm afraid of Carlisle and Emmett. Yes, I'm afraid that they might pull something again, but when I step inside that house, I can't be afraid because they feed off of that. The best way to approach this nightmare is to approach it as a fresh location without any judgement and fear," she gently caressed his cheek. "I need you to relax and have my back on this, but do know that Edward will have his punishment, I have many tricks up on my sleeve, remember? Who knows? I might do a little possessing myself," Bella said cheekily. "I"ll have the spirits deal with him."

"Fine, but if I don't like it, I'll deal with him myself!" Kol wanted to kill him. Bella wanted to have some 'fun' with him. She'd never hurt him, which was a shame. He then turned to Jeremy. "Are you fully open yet?"

"No, man, I had to do some damage control after you two decided to go for a walk first," Jeremy countered. "I've never been fully 'on', as you refer it to and I'm not sure if I can, but I can try."

"Good."

As Kol and Jeremy continued to banter, Bella checked the windows before continuing to walk around the house. Her two bursts of energy had made things even worse inside, especially since it was rage that had fuelled the bursts and not love. The house liked the negativity she had put out as it had been pure, unfiltered rage. She let out a breath and tried to collect herself some more. Jasper was going on and on about how Bella was special and how he was glad that she worked with the tools she had been given, that it would be easier now to watch her back because she saw, heard and felt everything. "Would you shut up?" Bella asked him as she rubbed her arms out of frustration. "Don't crowd me, Jasper. Please."

'My apologies, Miss Bella,' Jasper replied before taking a few steps back and let her do her thing. 'Do know that I will be with you once you enter the house, although I don't think that's necessary now that you're working with all your senses.'

"Well, if you do want to help, you could keep an eye on everyone who can't see what's coming," she smiled at him before staring back at the house. "Can you tell me what's happened since we were here last?"

Jasper sucked in a breath. 'Oh, Edward went beserk. Hired everyone and everything who had _any_ interest in the paranormal and allowed them to experiment inside the home. The house is crowded now, different kinds of ghosts with different stories. Some from far away, taken from their home and placed here, but that's what you already suspected. Yes, there have been rituals. Witches, supposed experts in the Dark Arts… bad voodoo… Edward even allowed Rosie's room to be turned into a gigantic mirror room, the things that come through that massive portal…'

Bella let out a breath and nodded. "Okay, how's the basement?"

'Still concealed, truth be told, with the extra spirits and rituals that have been done Carlisle and Emmett have gained more power to fool anyone who enters that hallway - unless, of course, you know what you're looking for. Why?'

"Because Edward isn't going to get his hands on that basement, but I'm going to try to have a polite conversation with Carlisle about it, test his loyalty to the Volturi. I mean, that stuff is just sitting there."

'I'd like to see you try, miss Bella,' Jasper said amused, shaking his head. 'I'm also going to be entertained for the rest of the night, to see what you come up with concerning your revenge on Edward, and also how you will deal with the plethora of personalities that are present.'

"Simple, treat everybody the same unless they're stupid," Bella winked at him and turned around. "Guys, are you still coming or what? We're nearly done walking around the house!" She felt horrible, but had to do this for the spirits inside that house. For her guys. She had to stay strong and not think of worst case scenarios, because what she had told Kol earlier, she wasn't allowed to be scared because the house would feed off it.

Kol huffed and decided to take off to nerve center before his face would be caught on camera, and he was pleasantly surprised to find his brother Niklaus observing the monitors. "What are you doing here, Nik?"

"Myriam made me come," Klaus shrugged and then smiled widely. "I've compelled these idiots here to act as if I'm not here and it's working so far. We just have to make sure we stay out of the sight of the camera," he said as he nodded to the camera in the corner. He then started to proceed to tell Kol what he had learned and seen so far while Bella and Jeremy rounded the corner to meet up with Drew.

"You've made it," Drew smiled at Bella. "I swear, if I had known we were going here, I would have called you and-"

Bella's sweet smile on her face turned into something dark and she punched his cheek, hard, before smiling at him again as a production assistant attached a microphone on her.

"Okay, I deserved that," he let out a breath and nodded. "Jace and Hugo are inside with Linda and the others, but maybe you'd like to do a short interview?" Drew asked as he pointed at some chairs.

"Sure," Bella shrugged. "If it's alright with you that I have something to drink and eat something? I'm feeling a little… drained."

"Already?" Drew blinked at her. "What did you do?"

"Well, we didn't have dinner, for starters, we've been stuck in that helicopter for hours!" Bella laughed. "And just being here… it's gotten worse. But don't worry, I already made a hole in the barrier around the house to free the Native American spirits, it's a lot quieter outside than it was when we came here."

"You made a hole in the barrier around the house?" Drew repeated slowly as he scratched his head. "Well, that makes sense, I suppose. You tend to do things like that! I really need to thank you for coming tonight, you have no idea what it means to me, despite the location. It's a good thing that we had already planned on taking Father Christian with us, but we are definitely going to need him after this event is over!"

Bella shrugged.

"And you've brought your friend the voodoo priestess."

"Well, I didn't bring her," she let out a snort. "She wanted to watch this on TV, but I guess that when she saw where I was going to end up, she wanted to come and join us. The more, the merrier, right?"

"Right," Drew smiled. "Tonight is going to be epic. As you said, it looks like the activity has gotten worse in the house. We weren't even inside for 15 minutes when objects started to fly at us. Nearly hit Hugo in the head with a beam, too."

"Were you being nice?"

"Bella, being nice won't work in there, trust me," Drew snorted. "I miss your backpack. No gifts for the dead?"

"Why would I bring gifts when I can simply give you to them to play with?" Bella teased him.

"Funny," he nodded. "But aren't you scared? Last time you were here, you got seriously injured."

She thought about it for a moment and then smiled at him. "You know better than to let investigations to be ruled by fear. I'm fine. My guys are fine. Yes, our visit was traumatic, but there are stories to tell and spirits to help. I just don't like it that I won't be in control." Before Drew could speak, Bella spoke again. "Do you have a list of people that Mr. Cullen brought in since we were here? And what they did?"

"No? Why would there be such records?"

"To make our jobs a lot easier?"

"Ha, you don't need records, you're the amazing Bella who never does TV shows because she's not a science project and doesn't like the people who does go on TV to find scientific proof of the paranormal."

"I guess with this house you find more than enough scientific evidence, just know that I'm not a labrat." She gratefully took the sandwich and the sugary drink that Jeremy had gotten for her, no doubt with a drop of Kol's blood inside of it. "Ohh, thank you!" She started to chew on her sandwich and sighed happily as she relaxed in the chair. "Isn't it time for you to bug other people, Drew? I'm not that interesting and I'm not going to do anything until Jeremy's satisfied I'm good enough to play with some ghosts."

Drew nodded as the camera man moved away and Bella started to attack her sandwich. She was truly famished, which was strange because she had felt sick before. "Why are we getting smart ass Bella?" Drew sighed as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. "And not easy-going Bella?"

Bella angrily pointed at the Cullen House as she turned off her mic before continuing to eat.

"As a group, we've made some changes to make sure Bella's strong and clear headed before we go anywhere. Her gifts evolved in a very short time and it's still a little bit unnerving for her at times," Jeremy explained, it was basically a bullshit story. "She changed for the better, but she's still the same Bella. Things are a lot different now and will likely change some more in the future." He put his hands protectively on Bella's shoulders. "And I think she's going a little crazy because of the insane energy that's outside," he grinned as he gently squeezed her shoulders. "I can't imagine what it's like inside."

 _Drew, come back inside, it's time for you to do something stupid._ Jace's voice was heard on the walkie talkie and Drew sighed. "Oh yeah, I'm spending time in the ballroom by myself!"

"Why not take it a step further and go to the mirror room upstairs?" Bella suggested as she took a sip of her drink, washing down her sandwich. "Seems like someone's been doing some remodeling."

"Yeah, we saw that room, we're saving that for later. For you or Linda, perhaps," Drew winked at her before grabbing his stuff and ran towards the house.

"There are fucking children inside that house," Bella muttered as she took another sip. "Ghost children and they're being tormented by whatever is chasing them. The energy is insane, I shouldn't feel them this far away from the house!"

"You did discharge a lot of energy when you slammed the house, Bella, maybe the energy seeped into you? Just a little bit?"

"Maybe, I don't know, but those children shouldn't even be in there!" Bella hissed as she saw a woman approach whom she recognized to be Linda, the white witch, someone she needed to be wary of which was made quite clear during their research into her.

"Oh, don't fear me," Linda smiled at her as she pulled the chair Drew had sat on closer to Bella and sat down with her. "It's so great to finally meet you, Bella, I've been watching your videos for years now. You are quite special, aren't you?" She took Bella's hand without warning and gasped. "What are you?"

Bella pulled her hand back and took another sip of her drink. "I'm a psychic medium."

"No, sweetheart, you're something else entirely, are you even human?" Linda cocked her head before looking at Jeremy. "And you! You're infused with so much magic… dark magic… but you're not dark… what are you?"

"Oh boy," Jeremy muttered under his breath. "She's good."

"Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me. In fact, I have the feeling that they need to be because someone's out to get you, Bella, and I'm not talking about Mr. Cullen… he has an unnatural fascination… infatuation with you. I'm also not talking about the ghosts… no… I'm talking about someone dark, very dark… and it has something to do with what's inside that house," Linda smiled then when she didn't see any surprise on Bella's face. "I am on your side. I've always been on your side, but now that I've met you… your light… it's beautiful." Linda then giggled. "I suppose we should turn our mics back on before we get complaints from the guys," she winked as she took her pack and switched her mic back on. "A lot of people with ill intent have walked into that house and messed with the energy. It is the worst haunted building I have ever been in."

"It's not a nice building, no," Bella sighed as she turned her mic back on and finished her drink. "Okay, I'm going to get my blessing from my friend the voodoo priestess and then I think I'm ready to go?" She looked at Jeremy, who merely shrugged in return.


	27. Chapter 26

She and Jeremy had just received their gear from one of the producers when Jace came out of the house to get them. "Bella! Wonderful to see you! Are you ready?"

Jeremy grinned as he pulled Bella closer to attach her to the dog leash. "Yes she is!"

"Woah, let's not get kinky here, shall we?" Jace replied playfully as he threw his hands up in the air. "Save that for your bedroom!"

Despite the fact that they were practically 'off camera', you never knew when you were 'on'. Bella hated TV, live TV events as big as these, for that reason. She couldn't be herself. Jace's energy only seemed positive and happy, but he had already experienced some of the darkness inside of the house, she could sense it. "Yep, what do you have for us?"

"I sent Drew to the ballroom by himself, why don't you two go and find him, see how he's doing? Then proceed from there?" Jace suggested as he pointed to base camp. "I'll be watching the screens from there."

"Have something to drink," Bella said as she nodded. "We know the way."

"We have various rooms where people are doing some experiments and rooms where there's simply equipement, just don't go alone."

Bella blinked at him. "You're telling me not to go alone, which is obvious that I'm not going to do and yet you have Drew sitting by himself in the ballroom? Isn't that a little bit the opposite of 'safety'?"

"Drew knows what he's doing," Jace said as he started to run towards base camp.

Bella let out a frustrated cry. She wanted to punch something, hard. _Drew knows what he's doing?!_ Knowing it was likely the house's energy combined with the shallow emotional tabs she kept on both Jeremy and Kol, she took a deep breath instead to calm herself down and looked at Jeremy. "Let's go and save Drew. Are you on?"

"Oh yeah, totally and I don't like it," Jeremy nodded as he followed Bella and fiddled with his camera. No, he hated it. Jeremy usually didn't have to focus hard to see _some_ spirits around Bella, especially with Kol around too, as an antenna. He saw the danger coming, usually, or could check out a room to make Kol feel more at ease, but to be fully on, to truly see what Bella was seeing? No. He hated it.

He hated to see the disembodied spirits of those stuck in their death state. Those with holes in their head or arms cut off… and he had seen the children. "Free the children first, huh?" He casually asked as he turned on his camera.

"Of course," Bella replied as a matter of factly, turning on her camera as well after switching on her voice recorder. Her voice recorder was going to be useless _now_ , but there was no doubt that the Spooky Investigations crew was going to go over every tape, every inch, of the things they'd record after this was over for an 'after show'. She was nice and professional like that. Grabbing the walkie talkie, she pressed the button and spoke to base camp. "Just for the record, I have my voice recorder on and it's sticking out of my pocket. I'm going to record continuously… unless I'm not in the house."

"Have fun storming the castle!" Jace called back over the walkie.

It was easier to walk to the house with less of the Native warriors around, but after she set a foot inside, she needed to take a breather again. The reception area was filled with spirits. They were plastered against the walls, walking around aimlessly, lost, like zombies and the atmosphere felt thick, almost as if you'd have to wade through mud. "I've created a hole outside, you can leave if you want to," she said kindly as she tried to keep breathing.

'We can't leave,' an older man said before he walked away again, in the mesh of the spirits.

"What do you mean, you can't leave?" Bella asked out loud, confused as she took another step inside. "The door is wide open!" When no one spoke out anymore, Bella silently cursed as she waded through the mass of spirits. So far, she didn't feel the presence of any Cullen, but she had no doubt that they were hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike. "The air is thick in here, it's hard to focus, to breathe. The amount of energy is insane and if this is through the entire house, we're going to have a problem," Bella said to Jeremy, who only hummed for an answer.

When they eventually made it to the ballroom, Drew was lying on his back, staring to the ceiling. No wonder, the ballroom was packed as well and he was lying somewhere close to a bright looking thing. "You see that?"

"What?"

"That bright thing?"

"Nope," Jeremy replied as they hurried over to Drew to check him over. He pulled Drew up and snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Drew, you okay, buddy?" There was a camera set up for a wide shot, and Jeremy wondered why nobody came once Drew went down.

"I hate this place," Drew muttered as he looked still out of it. Bella sat down on the floor behind him and gently touched his lower back, sending a little jolt of energy through Drew to free him from whatever was harming him before paying some attention to the bright light. "I feel fine," he sounded more like himself, albeit slightly confused. "The energy in this place… it's... I don't know."

"Everything," Bella replied as she touched the edges of the light with her fingertips, feeling an energy surge coming out of it, dark energy, sticky, depressing. It made _her_ want to lay down and stare at the ceiling aimlessly, at the mercy of the energy of the ballroom. It was growing ever so slightly on her touch and she quickly withdrew her hand, still observing the portal as a dark hand came out of it. She knocked on the floor. "Don't you dare come out of there," she warned the figure as the hand sunk back into the portal.

"What are you doing?" Drew laughed as he watched her after pointing his camera on her.

The hand came back out of there again and Bella hit the floor with the palm of her hand. "I'm still here, don't you dare to come out of there," she said with a hint of danger in her voice before turning to Drew. "Do you have an SB7 on you?"

"Yeah."

"Put it right there," she said as she pointed at the area. "There's a portal there."

"Really? But there's no markings, nothing," Drew said as he took the device out of his pocket and turned it on before placing it where Bella pointed at. Not soon after he had placed it down, sounds could be heard coming from the spot. Dark, chanting voices. The SB7 wasn't entirely clear, but Bella recognized it as Latin. "Holy shit," Drew said shocked.

^Indeed^

^Drew^

"Who are you? Tell me what you want!"

'I'm your worst nightmare little man! If only this bitch would let me out!'

^nightmare^

'I want to come out of here and tear off your skin, slowly and painfully while you bleed out in front of me.'

Bella could feel how the dark figure wanted to come out again and hit the floor again. "You were never human, were you?"

'Of course not.'

More chanting came out of the portal and the SB7 box and Bella had enough. "Listen up, I can feel that this portal is connected to many portals inside the house and they're not the only kind of portals, either. I am going to close this one and all connected. Now. You are not welcome here." She placed another hand on the floor and send some energy through the portal to close it and the other portals it was connected to. Briefly, she felt the presence of more portals, more powerful than this one had been. The SB7 was screaming until the portal was properly closed and Bella fell back on her ass.

"Please tell me you didn't just close a portal," Jeremy pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought we made some rules!"

"I did not just close A portal. I closed at least 10 of them who were all connected in this house."

"How do you do that, Bella?" Drew asked curiously. "No herbs, no spells, just your touch!"

Shit. Right. Of course. This was why. "It's all energy, you need to know how to manipulate it to your own advantage. Yoga and meditation helps a lot," she quickly replied with a shrug. "Sorry, I will not do that again."

"Or warn me next time, we could do some tests," Drew winked at her. "I mean, it's not every day we get to see you work!"

"Not a science project," Bella reminded him as she got to her feet. "Besides, there's enough to _study_ in this house than you'd think," she said as she brushed herself off. "But mainly this house is filled with useless spirits, displaced spirits, brought here by rituals or people who are capable of taking spirits from one place to another. There are children here, too. And they're mostly harmless, they're confused and can't leave. Even this ballroom… it has its residual energy, but also the energy of those who are lost. They are being influenced by the negativity in this house so it's entirely possible that those who are meek and lost, have also turned into violent spirits."

"Can you connect with them, at all?" Drew asked.

"I can, but they're not talking," Bella responded as she started to walk alongside the walls of the ballroom, using her energy to 'scrape' the spirits off the wall so that if she found the reason why they couldn't leave and fixed it, that they could leave. Jeremy had no other choice but to follow Bella around. "Some look like they want to be seen, but aren't truly looking the way that they do, such as this young woman. She's dressed like royalty, a beautiful tiara, her hair well done, polished nails, expensive jewelry… beautiful shoes… I mean… seriously, gorgeous shoes. Perfect makeup. But she died an old woman, and far from being royalty. She's now letting me know that her father and husbands always treated her like royalty and when she discovered that she could appear differently in death, she decided to dress the part."

"I thought they weren't talking?" Drew laughed.

"She's not, she's showing me images, a story. She comes from Mexico originally. Her spirit was attached to some object… ah… uhm… a spatula of all things and she was recently freed from her torment. Only to be put here, in the house where she can be herself, but can't leave. Come to think of it, you know that song by the Eagles? Hotel California? She describes the house as that song. _You can check out any time you like but you can't ever leave."_

'Miss Bella,' Jasper's voice sounded before he manifested in front of her. 'The closure of that portal has caused some ruckus on the top floor. Your friends might be interested in documenting that.'

Bella smiled at that and turned to Drew. "Who's on the top floor?"

"I don't know, let me ask," he said as he took his walkie. "Who's on the top floor?"

"No one," Jace replied. "Everyone is one level above you, why?"

"I suppose we're going to the top floor," Drew snickered as he looked at Bella. "Can I get the full spectrum camera?"

"Sure, knock yourself out." Bella shrugged as she looked at Jasper. "Why are you telling me this?"

'To keep you safe and out of trouble,' Jasper winked at her. 'I believe that the whispers that you're back will reach Carlisle and Emmett soon.'

"When they do, tell me. And tell them I want a civil talk with them."

'Good luck with that,' Jasper replied before leaving again, no doubt to find Carlisle and Emmett.

"Who were you talking to?" Drew asked as he returned with the cameras.

"Jasper," Bella had finished walking the walls of the ballroom and had successfully detached the spirits from them, causing them now to be all excited and jubilant. The atmosphere in the room had changed dramatically. "He's still the same, I think."

Jeremy agreed, although he wasn't sure if they could trust Jasper. Not after everything that Bella had told them about the state of the house so far, and especially not after her saying that this house even corrupts the good souls. Jasper may have been fun the last time, it didn't mean that he was fun this time around.

As they made their way to the top floor, the air grew thicker again before it dissipated. There weren't many spirits on the stairs, which was a good thing, but when Bella nearly got pushed into him before they reached the top floor, he was glad he had his Hunter abilities still in tact and didn't fall backwards into Drew. It had been 'a gust of wind' or a black mass coming at her in full force, but it was definitely not a normal spirit. "You okay?" Jeremy asked as he kept her to her feet and helped her to get to the top.

"Yeah, thanks," Bella muttered as she made room at the top for the rest of them to stand with her. The top floor was one they hadn't gone to the first time they were here because Drew had already been here and didn't think it was that interesting to look at. However, the top floor looked different, felt different and there were strange little corners, almost as if it was a maze. A bigger maze than the one in the basement, it seemed to be as big as half of the house. "What is this place?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Jeremy muttered.

"Well, we've walked that maze when we were here before," Drew explained. "Nothing happened, was quite boring when we got to the middle and there wasn't anything there. No activity, nothing."

Right at that moment, loud banging could be heard from within the maze, but also in the part where there were multiple rooms. While the floor below them was basically built like an impossible circle - no doubt with hidden rooms due to the fact that the house was quite square, this floor looked like it had utilized all of the space. Jeremy had a bad feeling about the maze. "Maybe the maze is something Myriam could dig her teeth into. Perhaps with that witch Linda."

"Oh," Bella cooed and nodded. "Yes. Definitely. Let's check out those rooms."

Drew laughed and radioed base camp with the idea that Jeremy had had for Myriam and Linda as he followed Jeremy and Bella towards the rooms. "Do you see anything here?"

"Nope," Bella replied, shaking her head. "No dead people, so whatever is here, is man made or made by nature. Likely poltergeists or demons or… other dark stuff."

"Oh, exciting," Drew grinned as he decided to run the special camera continuously. "Just so you know, I've switched on the full spectrum camera."

Bella nodded and knew she had to be careful now. She didn't know if her energy or her 'gift' would show up on those cameras. It was unlikely because she wasn't in her energy form, but what if it did? Linda sensed it right away, and she too, operated on a different level. She took a deep breath and went inside the first room. It was extremely dark in there. No windows. Her hand felt sticky after she touched the wall and when she shone her flashlight on her hand, she nearly gagged. "Blood?"

"No," Jeremy said as he shone around his flashlight. "Fresh paint… well, semi-fresh paint. Seems like someone's been painting…"

"It's _Father_ Christian," Drew said with disdain in his voice as he looked around in the room. "Told him we didn't want him to alter anything, and he did." He really didn't like him.

"The vampire?"

"Vampires don't exist, Bella, he's basically someone who loves the idea of vampires, the romanticism, the mysticality of it all… the psychology… of course, it's all fiction so he basically believes in fake things," Drew sighed as he got out of the room and after Bella and Jeremy left too, he closed it. "He's Jace's special project."

"Not a believer then?" Jeremy grinned as he offered his own shirt so Bella could wipe off her hand.

"I believe in many things, the paranormal is a crazy world to be in, to believe in, but vampires? Nah. It's just a bedtime story someone created, the world loved it and started to make things to make it appear in the real world and then legends came… I mean, demons… usually vampires are being seen as demons, right? I do believe in those." Drew replied with half a shrug. "What? Why? Do you believe in vampires?"

"Well… yeah. Perhaps not in a way that Father Christian does, but I do believe there's more out there than the paranormal," Jeremy replied as they entered the next room. It was bigger than the previous one and the walls felt clean. On top of that, it had a window where Bella was fixated with. "Spirits?"

Bella hummed an answer as she walked by the window, freeing the trapped, darker spirits from their entrapment, causing them to start wandering around. She couldn't really see in the dark and bumped against a chair. A moment later, it flew through the room. "That wasn't me!"

"No, I saw that, filmed that," Drew said excitedly as he kept his camera pointed at the chair. "Wow, that was amazing, thank you! Can that happen again?"

Oh, Bella didn't like that question, in fact, she felt so much rage right now that it was maddening. These weren't nice spirits or nice energies in this place, and Drew was being all excited? That chair could really have hurt someone. She felt a push against her, making her stumble back as the chair flew back at her, missing her by inches as she stumbled into Jeremy.

"I think I caught something else on camera," Drew said all giddy when he reviewed the footage on the full spectral camera. "Yep! Look!" He pointed his camera at it, but left enough room for Jeremy and Bella to see, but Bella wasn't all that interested. She just wanted out of this room and blow off some steam. "It's a dark mist that first pushes you and then goes over to the chair to throw it back! Bella, this is awesome!"

"You want to stay here and play with that chair?" Bella said as she was holding on to Jeremy, no doubt she was digging her nails into his arm and he wasn't even flinching. It was so hard not to do anything with her energy right now, because with Drew's full spectrum camera, it could be caught on camera and she could be treated even more like a science project.

"Do you need a break?" Jeremy asked her as he nudged her towards the door. "We can't exactly leave Drew alone here."

"You stay with Drew, I'm … I just need to leave. I'll be fine," Bella struggled with her words as she started to tug on her leash.

"That's not going to happen and you know that," Jeremy said, shaking his head. "Kol will have my hide if I release you."

"Jer."

"No."

"Myriam!" Bella called out to her friend, knowing that by now she had made her way upstairs with Linda.

"Oh, that's so not fair," Jeremy hissed as he could hear Myriam's and Linda's footsteps approaching them. "Not part of the rules! Kol will kill me!"

"I'd like to see him try," Bella replied as she waited for Myriam's pineapple self to appear. "Jer isn't letting go of me."

"Well, Linda and I could stay with Drew while Jeremy takes you outside?" Myriam suggested as she quickly checked Bella over. She seemed pissed about many things, although it could be just the energy on this floor that she wasn't prepared for. Linda had been explaining to Myriam about the dark, suffocating blanket that was present here, and Bella could have been affected by it. Bella was also drawing blood from Jeremy now with her nails digging into his skin, Myriam could smell it and no doubt it was an unpleasant experience for the Hunter. "Or…" Myriam walked around her friend and dug into the bag that Jeremy was wearing, searching for something to help her. "Does this work?" she asked as she handed Bella a small satchel, only causing Bella to throw it into the room where Drew was, still playing with the haunted chair. Whatever was in that room, it had fun with Drew. "Hey now."

"I _need_ to get outside, or leave. Please."

"She's not possessed," Linda declared after an intense standoff between Bella and her friends. "She _is_ affected in a way that I can't even begin to describe, I believe that if she stays on this floor, it'll only get worse for her. She needs a break… her anger… her rage… it's intense."

Jeremy lifted Bella into his arms and started to walk towards the stairs with her. "Okay, a break it is." It was strange to see Bella like this, and even have this witch tell them what was going on, it was stranger, but most welcome as Bella didn't communicate it very well. When they arrived on the first floor, he set her down to her feet and she let out a breath of relief. "Feel better?"

"That felt like a trap," she pointed up the stairs. "There is no way in hell that I'm going back up there, at least not with you."

"Ouch?"

More ruckus could be heard coming from the top floor, and Bella blinked when she saw Jace, Hugo and that _vampire_ run past them to go and check it out. She saw Jeremy longingly look after them and sighed. "Jer, go and have some fun with that, I'll be fine now."

"Nope."

"I have a walkie and a camera, if there's something wrong, I can call you. Not to mention, Kol's keeping an eye on our camera's anyway, I can feel it. I'm not completely alone. I promise I won't wander off. I'm not a kid."

"No, you're Bella and you do wander off at times. This is your nightmare, this house. There's no way I'm leaving you all by yourself. Especially now that we know that they are still after you."

"But what if I want to go poof?"

"Why would you want to do that!" Jeremy hissed. "Are you insane?"

She sighed as she slid down the wall and played with her camera. "Fine, give me a moment then, we'll have some fun here."

"I'm wondering where Jasper is," Jeremy said as he sat down next to her. "He sent you to the top floor, after all. I would love to give him a piece of my mind and then some."

Bella let out a chuckle. "He's a ghost, Jer. You can't hurt ghosts."

"But you can. And Myriam can too. No doubt Drew and his buddies have their own technological way to hurt him," he summed up, thoughtfully. "Your elemental friends outside can hurt him… the dark energies in here can hurt him…"

'Are you sure you wish to be around this young man, ma'am?'

"You jerk," Jeremy replied, rolling his eyes. "You sent her up there!"

'I said her friends should go and check it out,' Jasper countered. 'I said I wanted to make sure she was safe, and the top floor definitely isn't. How was I supposed to know she was going to go there?'

"Keeping her safe and out of trouble doesn't mean sending her to the top floor."

'And I never said she should. She should not even be in this house,' Jasper countered. 'Are we going to have a fight? I'm dead, you can't win,' he told Jeremy before addressing himself to Bella. 'Carlisle and Emmett are willing to talk, but you need to come alone.'

"Not going to happen," Jeremy shook his head. "She's not going anywhere alone."

'Then there will be no talks,' Jasper shrugged. 'Carlisle and Emmett are aware that you want to protect what's hidden in this house just as much as they do. They won't hurt you.'

"They've already hurt me," Bella replied as she rubbed her arms in agitation and sighed. "Oh well, back to work it is," she said before she got to her feet and checked her camera. "Ready Jer? We'll just walk around here while everyone's playing upstairs. How's Rosalie doing, Jasper?"

'They've turned her room into something hideous. I'm afraid that she's taken a turn for the worst. Even I can't get through to her anymore,' he said solemnly. 'Would it be possible for you to move us on?'

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do, to clean this entire house, but with cameras pointed at me like that special one upstairs, I'm limited."

"She is limited, period."

Jasper bowed. 'I shall see what I can do about some equipment malfunctions. It'll take a lot of effort and energy. There are some aware and friendly spirits in this house.'

Bella decided to go to the left, where she had gone with Kol the last time and it was entirely different in atmosphere. She stayed close to the windows, at first, to make sure that the spirits were being 'scraped off', before paying attention to some of the rooms. The first room had been used for dark magic, rituals. She could smell the sulfur coming out of the room before even entering it and she wasn't surprised when Jeremy said he could see the sigils too. "Powerful stuff here," she muttered as she shone her flashlight around in the room. "Do we know of any friendly witch in the area to remove the magic in this room?"

"Uh…" Jeremy scratched his head. "What about Linda, she's upstairs and friendly?"

"You'd think she'd be up for it? Or has the tools necessary to perform such a ritual?"

"Did you come alone without some of your helpful things?" Jeremy countered playfully as he looked around, recognizing some of the symbols. "Whoever was in here used some old magic, it reminds me a little bit about the spell for the creation of the Hunters. It's likely it's not the same spell, but just as old."

Bella nodded. She could feel that it was old magic, but not really that interesting when it came to the vortex a couple rooms over. And the other portals. And the other dark beings in this corridor. "Yeah, we could ask Linda to cleanse this room… or hope the room destroys itself," she moved herself out of the room and went into the next one where she found the children. All of them. "Hello!" She greeted them with a smile. The children were all huddled together, afraid. "Don't be afraid," Bella said as she squatted down to get to eye level with them. "My name is Bella, and that's Jeremy."

The children looked to be from several different eras, and none of them looked like they had died of a trauma, which was a relief. Ghost children were one thing, hurt ghost children were an entirely different beast. Bella got a handful of marbles out of her pocket and smiled. "I told Jeremy I wasn't going to bring any toys with me, but look!" She rolled them out on the floor. "They're yours to play with!"

'Don't hurt us,' a young boy said as he looked at Bella, warily. 'Everyone wants to hurt us. The bad dead… the living…'

"Well, I promise you, I'm not going to hurt you," Bella said as she sat down on the floor and made herself comfortable. "And Jeremy is here to protect us all," she continued as she thumbed over her shoulder before placing the camera down, facing the children. Not that they would be picked up, but who cared? "Shall we play with the marbles? Roll them to me and I will roll them back. I want to play, this house is making me sad."

'Us too!' The kids chorused as they scrambled to their feet to try and move the marbles. There was an older child who was standing behind the kids with his arms crossed over each other and Bella believed him to be their leader. It was good that these kids had someone at least that looked out for them. She sensed he had been a more recent death, and likely in this house, and that was wrong.

"What's your name?" Bella asked him as she kept an eye on the other kids, still trying to push the marbles around. "Did you die here?"

The boy didn't talk, but instead sent Bella images and it made her feel sad and appalled. "His name is Jeremiah and he and his family were in this… _commune_ where ritual sacrifices were a thing. Mostly animals. Then one day, a man came to their area claiming that the end was near and that the _only_ way to avoid this crisis was to come to this house and let the house claim one of their own."

"What?" Jeremy blinked at her. "People still do that? Seriously?"

Bella slowly nodded. "He was chosen and a great honor was bestowed upon his family. He was killed in this house, his blood spread all around, seeping into the floorboards, his bones buried on the property." She then turned to Jeremy. "Would our gracious host Mr. Cullen be aware of this, I wonder?"

Jeremy shrugged. "How recent was his death?"

"Oh, I think… 1950's…" Bella cocked her head as she looked at the boy. "Yeah, around that time. So… basically not that recent but recent enough. He didn't show himself the last time we were here because he felt ashamed and was afraid I was going to hurt him. Now that these other kids were brought here, he felt he had to step up and be a good big brother."

When one of the marbles moved, Bella cheered. "Yes! Who did that?"

'I did, my name is Marie.'

"Well done, Marie! Go teach the other ones," she smiled at her. "That was amazing!"

"What's her story, then?" Jeremy asked as he finally sat down next to Bella, his camera trained on his friend.

"Marie isn't even from the States. I think she's from England, Victorian Era. I feel she died of an illness, likely tuberculosis," Bella said as she focused on the girl. "Marie, how did you get here?"

'I was in a cupboard,' Marie replied as she moved another marble. 'And then I was not.'

'I was in my house, and then I was not. I was here,' another girl replied, she looked even older than Marie. 'That's the story for most of us.'

Bella nodded as that girl moved a marble. "Look at you! That is amazing! And you know what? I promise you, I'll get you out of here, I just need a little time, okay?"

'You are?' the kids chorused, their eyes getting big.

"Every single one of you. I promise."

"Bella, you can't make promises you can't keep," Jeremy whispered in her ear.

"Shut up, I can keep this promise." All the marbles started to roll through the room then. "Wow, you guys are awesome, that is great! Thank you! Have fun with these, Jeremy and I are going to continue and we'll find a way to get you out of here, okay? Don't leave this room."

'Okay!'

The next room they went in was what had been marked as Rosalie's room last time she was there, and it broke her heart to see what had happened to it. There were mirrors all over the walls, ceilings and floors, all looking into each other and Bella could see what was in the mirrors. Darkness. Red eyes. Peering into her soul, at each other, fuelling the energy that was severely out of whack in that room.

She wanted Kol. She wanted his arms around her and him telling her that it was going to be alright. Right now, she wanted to cry. The room made her cry. Scared. Sad. Jeremy wasn't entirely unaffected either, but Bella felt rage in him. "If you're going to hurt me, you have a problem," she muttered as she sat down in the middle of the room, switched off her mic and camera and waited for Jeremy to do the same. "After this I want to really take a break. Outside."

"You got it," Jeremy said as he made sure everything was turned off and stood in the doorway to make sure there wasn't going to be someone who'd pass them by and see what Bella was doing. Hell, even he had no idea what she was doing other than staring into all those mirrors, but this was a room she had talked about the moment she learned of it. She needed to destroy it. If the destruction would come with a loud crashing sound, he could say that the mirrors merely shattered around her or something. Yeah, that would work. The house was crazy enough.

Soon enough, one of the observers from nerve center came on the walkie. "Guys? Your cameras and mics are off."

"Yeah, we're taking a small break," Jeremy replied. "We're fine, don't worry."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. We'll come out in a bit."

Bella flashed Jeremy a grin as he turned off the walkie talkie and then focused back on what she wanted to do. She could feel energy coming from behind the mirrors as well. She wouldn't put it past the person who hung these to have put some sort of graffiti on the back of the mirrors to create portals. To make the mirrors extra dangerous.

'You can't fight us, little girl!'

Bella huffed as she tried to figure out how to proceed first.

'What's stopping me from coming outside, huh? If I do, I'll tear your skin from your limbs while I fuck you mercilessly-'

"Gross," Bella muttered as she slammed the floor, sending healing energy through the mirrors and negating the effects of the signs on the back of the mirrors. "Fuck off, all of you. You're not welcome here. You're not ever going to be welcome here again. You're not going to attach yourself to myself or my friends. We do not want your presence," she said as she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focused hard enough to shatter all the mirrors at once, creating just as what Jeremy expected.

A lot of noise and parts of the mirrors flying around, surprisingly all missing Bella as she had turned translucent. No, not translucent, she had poofed out to escape the falling pieces. He only realized that when her leash snapped back into him, nearly hitting him in the face.

"So uh, how many years of bad luck does this mean?" Jeremy asked as he scratched his head and kept his eyes on Bella. When he heard footsteps running towards them, he cursed and ran towards Bella, nearly slipping on the glass. "Turn back," he hissed as he covered her body with his, quickly throwing up a few slivers of glass to make it appear as if they had landed ontop of him.

"Are you guys alright?" Drew asked shocked upon seeing the damage. "What were you doing?"

"Taking a break," Jeremy replied and stared at Bella, who was still translucent.

'We have a problem,' she replied angrily.


	28. Chapter 27

Jeremy blinked at her. "What do you mean, you're trapped?" He hissed, knowing that Myriam could hear it, but no one else. "You're not a ghost, you're energy!"

'And spirits are energy, Jer!' Bella replied angrily as she got out from underneath him and started to pace the room. 'And I think I can come back, but I need to recharge. I… I should have thought it through when I decided to destroy the mirrors. Maybe not to sit in the middle of the room, for example…'

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Myriam sighed as she quickly compelled everyone who could be compelled to go away and then looked at Linda. "You're a witch."

"I am," Linda smiled at her. "But not to worry, your secrets are safe with me, I already told Bella I'm on her side. Right now she's a little bit angry and disappointed, I don't think she expected this outcome."

'A little bit angry?!' Bella tried kicking against some shards of the mirror and sent it flying, luckily missing her friends and Linda. 'I'm furious!'

"If it's any consolation, I found the vortex earlier. It is really powerful but I believe that with Myriam's help, I can weaken it. Now that you're energy, perhaps it'll be easier for you to find the anchors that keep the spirits here and destroy them. Then you'll be able to come back too and you won't have to use a lot of your light to do so," Linda said calmly. "And then perhaps you can finish what Myriam and I have started with the vortex."

"Yeah, and let's do that quickly so we won't have to explain Bella's absence?" Jeremy suggested as he watched Bella turn into a ball of energy and flew out of the room. "That's not fair, Bella!" He called after her. "How am I supposed to keep an eye on her when she's like this? Oh man… Kol's going to have my balls."

"Let's do some damage," Myriam said to Linda before pulling Jeremy with them. "Where's the vortex?"

"In the kitchen, of course, where else would it be? Nobody ever looks into the kitchen of a haunted home!" Linda replied, a smile on her face as she lead the real vampire and the magical whatever-he-was down the stairs.

Jeremy sighed as he switched his camera back on and his mic and shook his head. "Didn't Carlisle's wife Esme haunt the kitchen? Oh, and Alice?"

"Nah, Alice is haunting the halls, you don't have to worry about her, she's a peach," Linda laughed as she took a deep breath, nodding. "Bella's working fast."

"Speaking of my girlfriend, where in the bloody hell is she?" Kol had used his speed to get into the house unseen, and was now in the kitchen, waiting for Jeremy and Myriam to arrive. He was merely lucky that Jeremy and Linda's camera were pointing downward and not upwards. "Gilbert," he said as he advanced on him. "Where is she?"

"It was an accident, I swear!"

"That's not an answer." Kol growled as he pushed Jeremy against the wall. "Where is she?"

"I don't know!"

"Hey, calm down," Myriam said as she pulled Kol off of Jeremy and stood between them. "Bella was in the mirror room, she got rid of the portals there and the mirrors. You know how Bella is… Doing things without thinking it fully through? The mirrors came crashing down."

"She poofed?!"

"She poofed," Myriam repeated calmly and nodded. "She used too much energy with the mirrors that she couldn't push through the barriers that are keeping the spirits inside and she's now releasing those anchors to come back, but we're not done yet. Okay? Relax. Or go find her yourself."

"I can't," Kol sighed as he tiredly rubbed his face. "She offered her blood, I said no, because she needed her strength. I should have… I mean… what if this house is a trap built for her? What if she can't come back? What if-"

"As long as she's not going to the top floor, she's going to be fine," Linda said reassuringly as she eyed him. "You're even more ancient than Myriam is."

"Yeah, thanks, darling," Kol shot at her and pushed Jeremy again. "You are going to find her, now."

"No," Jeremy huffed.

"She's down the hall. There are no cameras there, go wait for her," Linda replied as she moved around the kitchen island and pointed at it. "This is the Vortex. I think we can weaken it by using our combined magic, Myriam."

The house looked very different from this perspective and while Bella was quite scared, she was fascinated by the things she _didn't_ see before. The 'anchors' were visible and easily to be rid of as a spirit and when she was breaking the last one, she had an unsuspected visitor.

'I heard you wanted to have a conversation, Miss Swan,' the voice said politely. When she turned around she saw a man with bottle blonde hair, immaculately dressed and she recognized him from the photos that Jeremy had dug up months ago. This was Carlisle Cullen, and her fear grew even stronger. 'Not to worry, I do not wish you any harm.'

'I don't believe you,' she replied as she took a step back. 'You've hurt me before. Through my boyfriend.'

'Because you were hired by our idiot of a family member to find our family secrets that he wasn't, isn't, smart enough to deal with. Of course we do everything in our power to stop you from finding it. We have always done that. It's why we're still here.'

She narrowed her eyes on him.

'Granted, in life, neither myself or my son Emmett were decent people. You've heard Jasper's story and believe me, we've done far worse things than that. However, I am not going to hurt you now, because you requested a conversation. And now you are here. And you are alone.'

Bella let out a breath and decided to take this chance. She didn't know why she was so scared, anyway. She could still hurt him when needed, she knew this. Question was, did he know? 'Do you know what I am?'

'I know now,' Carlisle nodded solemnly. 'I suspected it, at first, but to be honest, you acted more like a normal human investigator than yourself.'

'Because I didn't know. And it was that document that I stole from your secret room that started all of this.'

'Well, your secret is safe with us, it is not as if we have the ability to tell our masters.'

Bella smiled then and then hoped she was a great liar. 'The reason I wanted to talk to you is to promise you that Edward will not get his hands on what's in that room. I have an idea to screw him over, royally, and make him look like an even bigger fool that he is by the time we're done here. And I will help you move on, if you want to,' she started as she sighed. 'However, I'd like to have free passage to that secret room to find more information about the Volturi. I want to know if it's possible to fight them or if my fate has been sealed. If the latter is the case, I will turn myself in, voluntarily, as I do not wish for my friends to be hurt. But I'd need more information.'

'You are not serious?'

'I am.'

'I'd have to think about that.'

'And you have a few hours to decide, still,' Bella replied, shrugging as she casually motioned towards the glowing sigil in the floor. 'I mean, this is the last anchor I need to lift before I can find a passage out for the ghosts that Edward put in this place. The vortex is being dealt with. I am cleaning up your relative's mess, a mess that he made because of his obsession with the family secrets. And you're right, he's incapable of continuing the family legacy of worshipping such a powerful organisation as the Volturi. They'd likely have him for lunch.'

Carlisle raised an eyebrow. 'You are quite the rebel, Miss Swan. Unexpected. Say, if I would grant you a free pass to our sanctum and you would find the information seek, what's there to stop your family of vampires and hunters not to come and kill my _famiglia_? Your boyfriend is the passionate sort.'

'They won't.'

'Are you certain of that?' Carlisle pointed behind her and she could see Kol walking down the hall, looking around and looking worried. 'Even now, he's obsessed with finding you after your… accident.'

'If I choose to turn myself in, he won't be a problem,' Bella replied as she moved to the sigil. 'Think about it.'

'Are you truly going to clean this house up from all the paranormal and supernatural mess that Edward has created?'

'I am. Not completely, you might still have some extra tenants still, but you will be able to move freely throughout the house again. Your Native American wardens have gone, too. You could choose to leave the house and haunt some other place or move on.'

'We are content with the extra wiggle room, Miss Swan, we don't particularly fancy going away from this place. At least not until we know our secrets are safe.'

'As I said, think about it,' she said as she removed the last anchor. 'I'll be here for the duration of this… thing Edward has orchestrated. Feel free to mess with his friends, but stay away from mine, please.' She tried to come back, but could feel that she was still very much depleted. 'Oh for the love of…' she muttered as she walked towards Kol and started to poke him.

"Bella?"

Bella poked him again and started to nudge him towards Jeremy. When he wouldn't budge, Bella went to Jeremy instead. 'Jer, call Kol back, I'm here.'

"Huh? Yeah, okay…" Jeremy said surprised as he filmed whatever Myriam and Linda were doing over the kitchen island. "Kol! She's here! Wait, why aren't you back yet?"

'I don't know, I think I need to recharge some more. Or maybe if I go outside it'll work.'

"Can you go outside?"

'I should be able to, yes. Tell Kol I meet him at the back of the house,' Bella said before turning into a ball of energy and flew away, but before Jeremy could tell Kol what she had said, a loud crash could be heard coming from the front of the house.

'Goddamnit! What the fuck am I missing?!' Bella yelled out loud as she walked back to the door where she previously had bounced off of.

"Hey guys? The camera downstairs picked up a loud crash," a voice could be heard over the walkie talkie. "And the word 'fuck' on the paranormal puck!"

Kol let out a groan as he looked at Jeremy. "She's upset."

"Yep," Jeremy said as he headed towards the entrance. "You know," he said out loud to Bella, but basically addressing a 'ghost'. "Potty mouths never got anyone very far."

'Shut up, Jer, and tell me what I'm missing," Bella snapped as she hit the doorpost with her flat hand, causing the house to shake.

"Conserve your energy, I'm not impressed," he replied as he stealthily blocked the set up cameras. "And I don't know what you're missing."

'I haven't checked the top floor,' Bella replied before hitting herself with the palm of her hand. 'There must be an anchor there as well.'

"You're not going up there."

"Where does she want to go?" Kol asked as he stood next to Jeremy.

"Oh, the one place that truly affected her earlier, although her behaviour now also is an indication how the house messes with things," he said casually. "I think she may be stuck here forever."

'Don't say that.'

"Don't say that."

"Well, it's true. Without you we have no possible chance to save those children up there, you can't get out and the house will make you its bitch."

Bella looked at her friend and started to cry. Kol looked as if he wanted to murder Jeremy.

"Go to the pantry to cry," Jeremy ordered Bella. "You'll have some privacy there."

'You're a jerk,' Bella said as she marched herself to the pantry, knocking over a few of the cameras on her way and kicking the paranormal puck underneath a chair.

"Good luck," Jeremy smiled at Kol before restoring the cameras and spoke on his walkie as Kol zoomed to the pantry. "One angry spirit, but I think it's gone now," he said as he looked at one expensive looking camera that now had a broken lens. "You might want to replace this."

"Are you okay, Jeremy?"

"Yeah man, I've dealt with scarier things," he chuckled before returning to Myriam and Linda. "I sent our upset spirit to the pantry," he explained. "She believes she missed an anchor and that it would be on the top floor."

"This vortex is sufficiently weakened now," Linda spoke quietly as she adjusted one of her candles. "We could go back up there to check to see if there's another anchor up there, although I suspect she's merely emotionally affected by this house."

"I thought she was stronger than this," Jeremy sighed, earning him a slap on the head by Myriam. "What?"

"You may not feel it, Jeremy Gilbert," she scolded him. "But this house is doing a number on Linda as well. Not to mention the spirits. Bella's a little lost, that's all."

Kol sat down against a wall and sighed. "It's alright, darling, take a breath. I'm not going anywhere as long as you can't." He could feel some movement beside him and then Bella's familiar energy around him. "Yes, this sucks, but you've always come back to me before. We've got time." He fiddled with the SB7. "You want to talk?" He could feel her fist hitting his chest. "Okay," he laughed. "No tools to communicate with my beautiful and talented girlfriend. You know what? After all of this, we're going on a trip, just you and I. Somewhere with clean beaches and blue oceans… sunny… maybe with a lot of talented masseuses… booze… We'll worry about our new friends later."

"Truth be told, I can't wait for you to discover other sides to yourself, new hobbies. I don't expect you to give this up entirely and I do not want you to, but you've earned it to think about yourself, be selfish. And be selfish with me," he continued as he looked into the general direction of where he believed Bella to be sitting against him. "Screw the rest of the world." He then shrugged. "Granted, if you want to see our new friends first before all of that luxurious relaxation… that's fine with me too. Nik can't wait to have some fun with them."

"But you and I, darling, I can't wait to begin helping you explore new avenues. Or to have some fun with you in our bed…" he whispered. "If you come back to me, we'll leave this house and get you something to eat and drink, perhaps a little nap? If it were up to me, we'd leave, period, but I know that you feel like your job here isn't done."

He was quiet for a while and could hear Linda, Myriam and Jeremy go back up the stairs while the three stooges were still walking around doing stuff as he had told them to do. But he could also hear banging, scratching, screeching, and that without having had Bella's blood. No, this was real. "Some angry ghosts in his house," he mumbled before he felt Bella stir against him. Looking down, he smiled at her. "Welcome back, darling," Kol pushed her hair out of her face and softly kissed her lips. "How are you feeling?"

"Completely drained," she replied quietly as she nestled herself against him. "I could do with a nap… do you think they'll allow me to?"

"Of course," he huffed as he got to his feet and lifted her up in his arms. "Or else they'll have me to deal with. We'll get you some food and something to drink… with a little extra in it, and then you tell me how long you want to nap." Kol kissed the top of her head and started to walk out of the house with her towards base camp and where some of the trailers were. "We'll take Drew's trailer. I'm sure he won't mind." He took the walkie talkie she had on her and spoke into it. "I've found Bella, she's alright, albeit slightly shaken. I'm taking her for a rest."

"Do we need to call the paramedics?" A voice came back. "They're on site?"

"No need," Kol replied as he turned off the walkie and brought Bella to Drew's trailer. He had nosed around earlier, to get the lay of the land and whatnot, and while Drew's trailer wasn't one of the first, it wasn't cluttered or anything. Besides, Bella preferred Drew's energy over that of his mates. He opened the door and brought her inside, gently laying her down on the bed before raiding the fridge, finding Bella a sandwich and a sugary drink. He handed her her sandwich and only handed over the drink after putting some of his blood inside of it.

"Thank you," Bella smiled at him. "And I'm sorry… I… this… I… I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid," he sat down next to her and put his arm around her as she ate and drank. "You speak with your heart, not with your head and that's a loveable quality of yours although it gets you into trouble the most. I don't care. I love it. Although it's quite scary at times. Like today," he let out a slight chuckle. "You're doing great and miraculous things in that house and I hate it that you have to be with Jeremy and that I can't be with you."

"It's for your own protection," Bella replied as she set the empty glass on the table and nestled herself against him. "I've done a lot without them knowing about it, but for a part of my plan I need access to Edward Cullen, so Myriam will have to remove that spell from his trailer."

"We'll worry about that later, darling, go take your nap."

"Wake me in two hours?"

"I will wake you in two hours. I'm not going anywhere." Bella was awake before the two hours were over, and he was surprised to see her this refreshed. "Slept well, darling?"

"Oh yes, gorgeous," Bella purred as she softly kissed him. "I feel as if I have napped for at least a century!" She didn't sound like Bella, she had a Louisiana drawl in her voice and that wasn't Bella. "I feel a new person."

"I bet you do," Kol eyed her warily, taking his hands off of her.

"Now now, gorgeous, why are you taking your hands off of me?" She purred as she pulled him closer to her. "You're beautiful, I'm pretty... We're on a bed…"

He thought for a moment as he recounted his previous encounter with this ghost and got off the bed. "Alice?"

"Bingo," she grinned as she reached out to him. "Come."

Kol knew that Bella would have never allowed Alice to enter her if she were awake, this meant that she was still sleeping. And if Alice had been able to leave the house, then that meant that the anchors were down and an opening had been created for the spirits to leave, just what Bella had wanted.

What Kol wanted, was to get Alice out of Bella as soon as possible, but on the other hand, he wanted to throw Drew a bone here too, a full possession by a spirit on one of his friends, a spirit that was quite handy. Would Bella agree with him? As a joke? Likely. He grabbed the walkie and smiled. "Hey Drew?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"A friendly ghost has possessed Bella, want to play?"

"Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah, Bella's still sleeping, but this little minx got out of the house and into Bella, we're in your trailer."

"Cool! On my way!"

Kol looked at Alice and smiled. "So, up to you. Either you leave, or my friend is going to have a blast doing sciency stuff with you."

"Sounds exciting!" Alice replied as she bounced on the bed. "This body… is extraordinary. So… energetic. So… bendy," she stretched herself and giggled. "And she's hot for you! Come here," she purred as she reached for him again. "I'll make you see the stars!"

"No darling," he laughed as he opened the door for Drew, he had run to come to his trailer and witness Bella being taken over by Alice. "I'm mad for Bella, not quite for you, besides, aren't you married?"

"To Jasper," Alice sighed dramatically. "We didn't get to have sex… hold on, if you allow yourself to be Jasper's vessel…"

"No!" Kol said appalled as he looked at Drew. "Are you hearing this?"

"This… this is amazing," Drew said shocked as he had a camera pointed at Alice. "A full possession by a kind spirit? I mean… we've never seen full possessions before but… holy crap."

"My, aren't you a looker?" Alice winked at Drew as she fixed her hair. "Do I look pretty?"

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Alice Cullen, what's yours, sugar?"

"I am warning you," Kol whispered in Drew's ear. "If she's going to kiss you, I will hit you, if not worse."

"Don't worry," Drew told Kol as he sat down on the bed with a meter and his camera. "My name is Drew, nice to meet you, Alice."

"Oh," Alice said as she crawled towards the devices and picked up the meter. "What does this one do?"

"It's a milligauss meter, it finds disturbances in magnetic fields and you're making it skyrocket."

"I always make people skyrocket," Alice winked at him as she placed the device down again. "What is your obsession with the dead, anyway?" she questioned as she laid back down on the bed and stretched herself. "It's boring to be dead. Daddy doesn't allow me to leave and my husband likes this girl… Oh, and Rosalie. My husband loves Rosalie and not me."

"Where is Rosalie?" Kol asked curiously. Not that he cared. Nor that Drew cared, but he knew that Bella cared.

"Who knows? That house was a mess, it still is with all the muck from all those people who came to our house. For all I know Rosalie is buried underneath the floorboards as a ghost. I'm sure she'll turn up once this girl fixes everything," Alice chuckled and then clapped her hands. "Or Emmett has Rosalie somewhere to keep her away from Jasper. It's a shame Emmett's dead, too, that we're all dead, but Emmett was an oaf, perhaps, but oh so skilled with a knife and peeling off skin…"

"What can you tell us about that secret room we're trying to find?"

"Nothing," Alice giggled before looking quite annoyed. "Daddy! I'm just having fun!"

'I told Miss Swan we'd leave her friends alone, for now.'

"But she's not her friends, is she!"

'Don't anger me, Alice. You leave that girl alone until I say you're allowed.'

"Fine," Alice sighed dramatically before looking at Kol and Drew. "Was nice talking to you, gorgeous boys… maybe next time we can do a threesome?" She winked before leaving Bella's body, and Bella herself woke with a start.

"What the fuck," Bella stated as she sat up and scratched her head. "Was that…" she looked at Alice and Carlisle who were still in the trailer with them. "Don't ever do that again! Ugh, I feel like I need to be scrubbed clean on the inside."

'My apologies, Miss Swan,' Carlisle replied as he and Alice disappeared.

"Wow, that was amazing," Drew said as he checked the milligauss meter and it was back to normal before looking at Bella. "Do you remember anything at all?"

"No, I was asleep!" Bella growled. "Had I been awake, I would have thrown her out!" She rubbed her arms in disgust. "Oh, that's so gross!" She then grabbed a pillow and whacked Drew over the head with it. "And you used me as a science project!"

"Oh come on, Kol alerted me that you weren't quite yourself and… well, this was mind blowing! I mean… never seen a possession that far along! Like… that was Alice and not you," Drew started to explain. "And you didn't fake it, either, did you?"

"I was asleep," Bella growled as she shot a look at Kol. "You should have done something."

"I did," Kol smirked. "I called Drew. Had it been anyone other than Alice I would have raised the alarms." He was great to see her in fighting spirit again. "But welcome back, darling, I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Oh yeah, I'm ready to kick some ass," she said as she bound her hair with a hair tie found in her pocket and got off the bed. "Drew, this bed is nice and comfy, well chosen, but now, it's time to lead a bunch of kids to freedom if they haven't left on their own already." She then pushed Kol back onto the bed. "And I will pay you back for this stunt. Ugh, I still feel gross."

"Glad to have you back darling," Kol laughed as he looked at her from his position on the bed.

"Thank you for saving me, though," she sighed as she followed Drew back out of the trailer and first went to the food supply table to get some chocolate where Jeremy was already waiting for her to tie her back up again. "Hi."

"Don't ever do that again," he said, slightly patronizing. "You had me worried."

"I was worried," Bella muttered as she munched on her chocolate bar. "Okay, so what happened while I was out?"

Jeremy thought for a moment. "We had to save Linda from an enraged Jace, he and Emmett's energy don't quite get along. Jace hit Hugo in the process, they're both fine. Uhh… there's a significant decrease in spirits. Myriam did some voodoo rituals to help. Linda did some rituals to help, but Jace and Hugo weren't too keen on 'helping' per sé, they were there to study things and how can they do that when we take away their toys?"

"That house is unhealthy," Bella said with a full mouth. "We're merely making it safer for them to hang out in. Oh, and did Myriam free Edward from his trailer?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Jeremy nodded. "He's hanging out in base camp with Klaus at the moment, so he's docile but still… even then…"

"No, that's good," Bella nodded as she took her gear from him. "Let's go to the kids." She found the kids still in the same room, playing with the marbles. "Hey guys!"

'You're back!' Marie smiled widely and ran up to Bella to hug her, but realized in time that she was a ghost and actually couldn't.

"Of course I'm back, I told you I'd be back," Bella replied as she looked at where the cameras were pointed and gently nudged Marie with her energy. "Why aren't you guys out of this house yet?"

'We were waiting for you,' Jeremiah replied as he emerged from the shadows. 'You're really able to let us go out?'

"Well, you're all able to get out by yourself. And you can choose to go into a big bright light or go to the big scary looking Elementals outside so they can keep you safe," she squatted down and smiled at them. "But something tells me that's not going to be that easy."

'We want to tell our stories.'

"Yep, no problem," Bella said as she turned on her voice recorder as she made herself comfortable on the floor instead. "I'll repeat everything you say and… well, post it onto my internet page if they're not showing this on television right now. But, I only have one request. You tell your story one at a time, otherwise I'll get confused."

For the next hour, Bella and Jeremy listened to the stories the children had to tell about their lives before their deaths, and how they died. Nobody disrupted them, but occasionally Drew, Jace and Hugo came to look around the corner of the room to see how they were doing. Jeremy thought it was useless at first, but then reminded himself that this is what Bella liked to do; to tell stories. Some stories were heartbreaking, others were uplifting, but the main thing was that all the relatives of these children were dead.

When everyone had told their story, Bella rose to her feet and turned off her camera to give it to Jeremy. "Who wants to hold my hand while we walk outside?" Bella asked, with Marie and Christine jumping up as the first. It was strange to hold a ghost child's hand. Bella could feel them and she was sure that they could feel her gently squeeze their hands too as they walked down the stairs towards the door. "Have you guys thought about what you want to do?"

'Do you think our families are in that white light over there?' Christine asked softly as she pointed outside.

"I think so, yes," she replied with a shrug. "That is actually beyond my area of expertise, but my friends say it's a good thing." Once outside, Bella got group hugged by the children, their energies warming her with love and kindness and happiness and she actually started to sob when the kids walked off into the light that Bella couldn't see, but they vanished before her. "Wow," she let out a breath and then smiled at Jeremy. "We did a good thing."

"Uhuh," he said as he swallowed back his tears. Why was he so affected by this? "Now what?"

"We're going to find Rosalie," Bella said, determination written on her face. "And get her and Jasper away from the crazies," she said as she turned around to walk back into the house. "Thing is, I didn't see her before and the only place I haven't been to…"

"You are not going to the top floor," Jeremy told her. "Absolutely not. No way. I'll go up there with Myriam or someone else and then we'll find her. But you're not going up there. Angry and agitated you is no fun and a health hazard to all of us. We need you sane."

"So you're allowing me to roam free?"

Jeremy thought about that and shook his head. "You and Myriam go somewhere together and I'll go up to the top floor with someone else," he said quickly. "And I don't want to go up there, but you're right, we need to find Rosalie and maybe I can find her there and convince her to go to you."

"Okay," Bella sighed. Myriam wasn't going to be much of a problem for her, Myriam had an awesome energy and she knew what she was doing. On top of that, Bella trusted Myriam as much as she did Kol and Jeremy. "Let's do this."


	29. Chapter 28

"So, where are we going?" Myriam asked as she looped her arm through Bella's, not bothering with the leash because that was so stupid. Granted, it was a safety measure, but Myriam wasn't about to get distracted lose Bella out of her sight.

"We are going to some place quiet to have a chat with Carlisle Cullen," Bella replied as she steered Myriam towards the kitchen and pantry. "He and I had a conversation and I want to know his reply."

"What did you do?"

"Well, for one, I asked him politely to leave my friends alone. Which they did," Bella replied as she scratched her head. "Although I hadn't specified that it included me as well. Ugh, I still feel like I need a hot bath when we're done."

"And?"

Bella turned off her mic and gestured for Myriam to do the same. "To gain access without any trouble to their Volturi Sanctum for information and the promise I'll make sure Edward won't get his hands on it." She was surprised to see Carlisle with what looked like his wife Esme in the kitchen, waiting for her. Emmett just walked in from the pantry. "I've asked nicely, of course," she smiled at Myriam before turning to the spirits. "Have you given it some thought?"

'Despite our temporary truce, Miss Swan, we cannot allow you access to our Sanctum. I am deeply sorry that Alice broke our truce, but after spending some time within you, she could tell me that you've been lying to me.'

Bella saw Emmett advance on Myriam and she stopped him with a blast of her energy, evaporating him instantly. "You see, I don't need your permission," she said easily, half shrugging. "You see, I've been practising with what I can do with the guidance of this brilliant woman and I _can_ use force. I'd rather not, because that's not who I am, but I _can_ and I _will_."

Myriam was impressed. She leaned against the kitchen counter, making sure not to knock over some of her and Linda's barrier spell to weaken the Vortex, but she had never seen Bella this determined, this feisty before. She had always hated hurting spirits with her touch, and rather liked doing it the less painful way. But when she stopped one of them, even Myriam could see the energy discharge and no doubt some milligauss meter in the vicinity was going nuts for it.

'You can't do this!' Esme cried out. 'Don't hurt my husband or my children!'

'Quiet now, dear,' Carlisle shushed his wife before looking at Bella. 'And here I thought you were this sweet little thing.'

Why were bad guys always this wordy? Bella couldn't back down now, so she was going to have to channel some Mikaelson 'diplomacy' without looking like a little girl. Because let's face it, Bella didn't like hurting people or being mean. This was a mess she created by wanting to have a chat, while she should have blasted all of the Cullens into the ether in the first place. "You are going to allow me access and in return I'll make sure Edward won't be able to get to it."

'And if I refuse?'

"Then your exit from this Earth will be as painful as Emmett's just has been," Bella stated simply as she touched the kitchen counter and closed the weakened Vortex without taking her eyes off of Carlisle. "The Vortex is closed. No more vacuuming ghosts inside from the surrounding areas and keeping them here. Your choice, Carlisle. We can do this peacefully or not so peacefully. I _will_ keep the Volturi secrets safe and out of his hands, I wasn't lying about that."

'Can you ensure the complete destruction of this house?'

Bella blinked at that. "You want this house to be leveled to the ground? Why?"

'This house is no longer a home,' Esme quietly said from behind her husband. 'All of the efforts of protecting what's sacred has made this house a nightmare to be in. My husband _wants_ you to take what you need from the Sanctum and then destroy everything, he's merely being a bit stubborn about it.' She then stepped from behind her husband to face Bella. 'I do not dismiss the awful things this family has done out of loyalty towards each other, and the Volturi. My family did what we had to do. Unfortunately, it had to end. Edward is our only relative and he's not cut out for this.'

'He's too fanatical,' Carlisle added.

Bella snorted and looked at Myriam, knowing that her friend couldn't hear the spirits. "They're doing a complete 180 now. They are the 'good guys' doing 'bad things' for the greater good."

Myriam nodded slowly. "It's a familiar story."

'Our families are quite similar, albeit yours being one of immortals and we were mere mortals,' Carlisle said kindly. 'They are protecting what the Volturi have been seeking for a millennia, you.'

"How do they know about me? I know that I've had a previous life and that my adoptive parents were Volturi worshippers, but how? How is that possible? They're in Italy!"

'Your vampire friend is strong and fast enough to get things out of this house unseen, yes?'

"Yes."

'Follow me then,' Carlisle said he gestured for Bella and Myriam to follow him to the Sanctum. 'The Volturi were created, if you will, in the Old World. The continents of Scandinavia, before moving to the land of magic and settling in a place called Volterra, as our leader did not wish to stay in the cold any longer. I believe it was also a sort of family spat she had with her sister, the sister she lost when she went to the New World with her family. The history of it is written in one of the books we have downstairs, it's a book all of the Volturi worshippers own.'

"Like a bible?"

'Well, you live in a world filled with immortality, vampires and magic, so it's not really a bible. While the Volturi are all human and have no desire to turn into vampires, there are powerful witches among us. There have to be, to be able to control spirits they use to spy on their enemies or objects of fascination. It's a diary or Grimoire, if you will.'

"You mean you have voodoo priests and priestesses?"

Carlisle shrugged. 'I believe your friend Linda would call our witches Dark Witches.'

Bella let out a whine, not liking what she was hearing. She had believed that the Volturi were hard to take down, but Carlisle made it sound like it was going to be even harder. But what he said made sense. It explained so much when it came to her guide Valerie. Bound. Lying. Not lying. Uneven. Unbalanced.

'Even with the help of your vampire friends, you wouldn't be able to defeat the Volturi,' Carlisle continued. 'They are a true force to be reckoned with and perhaps it is best if you turn yourself in.'

"And what would happen if I do that?"

Carlisle then shrugged. 'Over the years there had been many ideas, ranging from experimenting on you either through witchcraft or science, or another suggestion was to try and breed you.'

"To try and breed me?" Bella spluttered. "Seriously?"

'You're not a human and thus your human rights wouldn't be in jeopardy,' he replied. 'And I don't believe you can escape their imprisonment that easily, either. There had been rumors about you being a being of pure energy, they have adjustable faraday cages tailored to what they know about you after your life with the Volturi family all those years ago. You're energy, just like us, and will be able to be contained by electricity.'

Bella grumbled as she pulled the tarp away from the wall, revealing the passage to the maze downstairs. "No surprises downstairs?"

'Absolutely none, if there were, you would have been able to see them the first time you were there,' Carlisle replied truthfully.

"The last time I was here, Emmett took over my boyfriend and nearly killed me."

'You can't be killed, that had been a test.'

"A fucking extremely traumatizing one!" She grabbed her walkie. "Hey Jer?"

"Yes?"

"Remember the last time we were here? What did you see when the ceiling collapsed?"

It was quiet for a while before Kol's voice came over the walkie talkie. "You'd better not be doing what I think you're about to do!"

"No, I'm not doing anything, I'm just wondering because I'm feeling weird vibes coming from that area and I might want to check it out."

"Bella, it's not good," Jeremy replied. "Wait, so that I can come along, too, in case there's another collapse."

"Hey, if you're going to that area, why are your cameras turned off? This is something we'd like to see too!" Jace's voice came over the walkie talkie.

"Uh, maybe later, I need to do this by myself first…" Bella said a little bit hesitant before turning off the walkie talkie. She believed Jeremy when he said it wasn't good, but wasn't going to say anything about it to Carlisle.

Myriam hated this. While she could hear at least one half of the conversation, she didn't like what Bella was replying, her pauses and her _patience_. Was she really going to trust this Carlisle guy? She sure hoped not. Talking to Jeremy, and Kol, on the walkie talkie had been a good thing, the guys would know where she was in case something would happen. She followed Bella into the passageway and for Bella's sake shone her flashlight around. Myriam could see perfectly well in the dark, and the maze looked somewhat claustrophobic.

From what Myriam had gathered so far, Carlisle was telling Bella all about the origins of the Volturi, and no doubt that Bella would inform the family as soon as she could. She'd better. The little scrapes of information from Elijah weren't of any use at all.

Once they passed through the maze - that wasn't really a maze just a set of corridors, Myriam was greeted by the smell, and sight, of a puddle of dried blood. Bella's blood, and it was a lot of blood. They hadn't been kidding when they had said that Emmett, in Kol, had done a number on her and that she had nearly died. Anger started to bubble up underneath her skin and decided to focus on other things instead.

The Sanctum was nothing but a fancy witches' altar with large bookcases on each side of the walls filled with books and scrolls. The Volturi flag was hanging proudly, albeit a bit dusty, and some strange scribbling on the walls that she didn't fully recognize. It was clear that the Cullens used to do rituals and perhaps even sacrifices in this room, Myriam recognized some of the tools and herbs.

When she looked over to her friend, she stood frozen into place, looking at that same puddle of blood Myriam was trying to ignore. "Bella?"

Bella snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Myriam as she ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah… sorry…" She had dealt with it, truly. Fully. Or at least she had thought she had dealt with it, but it was almost as if she could feel Kol's teeth on her again, tearing her skin apart because Emmett was in him. Kol wouldn't ever hurt her, but the puddle still brought back memories.

Bella then looked around in the Sanctum, and yes, Carlisle was there, but there were other beings there as well, and it didn't feel too good. Shadow people. At least a dozen. They felt like they were watchers, sentinels. Keeping an eye on things and they were likely connected to the Volturi. They were threatening, sure, but Bella didn't feel that these were capable of hurting anyone.

There was a large, black mass in one of the corners and it made Bella feel sick. Very sick. As she tried to identify what it was, she could feel it affecting her mind and her body. It felt like an accumulation of emotions, extreme emotions. It was connected to the entire Cullen family, it once started hundreds of years ago, and then continued with the rest of them. Feeding. Even in death. "I've never seen such a large PK manifestation in my life," Bella muttered as she leaned against the wall. "Wow… so much depression…"

"What was that again?" Myriam questioned, worried about her friend. "Are you alright?"

"It's a variation of the Poltergeist. The PK is a psychokinetic entity, created by extreme emotions by someone with the ability to see spirits, someone who's a sensitive. It usually takes years to develop a small one, and it's easily to get rid of by getting that person help, but this thing is ancient and connected to this family," Bella explained as she took a deep breath to sever the connection with it and then nodded. "Yeah… I'm fine… now… But wow, this family was fucked up for centuries."

'I am still here,' Carlisle reminded her. 'There is no need to tell me how _fucked up_ our family was, we had a great family. Our generation was the best.'

"And Carlisle is now boasting that they were a normal family," Bella sighed as she thumbed over her shoulder towards Carlisle. There were a handful of tiny, inhuman spirits underneath the large table between two bookcases and they seemed to have sharp teeth. Unlike last time, there weren't any books or scrolls lighting up for her immediately, which was a good thing, because it had been scary the first time.

"How good are you with interacting with solid objects, Carlisle?" Bella wondered as she went over to the first bookcase and started to look at the book covers. "Can you like… turn knobs?"

'Yes.'

"Good," Bella hummed as she grabbed a book and dusted it off. "Because I reckon since Edward kept the lights burning, the gas line is also still connected?"

'Yes?'

"Good," Bella grinned as she handed the book to Myriam before moving on to finding another one. She felt that the books had different feelings, different kinds of energy, and she decided to go for the ones that had the strongest. In the back of her mind, she could see Ylva standing at another kind of altar, no doubt the one that she had in her home when she was with Kol a thousand years ago, and she was holding a book, smiling widely. Bella needed to find that book, and it was here somewhere. "I think we'll have a gas leak… and then as grand finale, it'll be Edward who will lit a match and makes this house go kablooey."

"Bella!" Myriam laughed. "You can't be serious! Besides, you'd need more than just gas… I mean, I'm sure Klaus and Kol would love to almost empty some gas tanks and pour it inside this house…"

"Oh, wicked, I like it," Bella grinned as she grabbed another book, still not the one she wanted, and handed it to Myriam to hold. "Only when there's nobody left inside the house or when there's enough time for them to leave when someone yells 'gas leak!'."

"Careful, missy, you're crossing into the darkness now," Myriam warned her, but thought the idea was brilliant. "First exploding Emmett and now contemplating to blow up a house?"

"Well, it's fast, and that way Edward will no longer have a house to torment the dead with," Bella replied as she moved onto a new bookcase, this one also had a few scrolls in them, but Carlisle told her that they weren't important. Mostly about other people they had suspected to be what Bella was and upon checking a few of the scrolls, she had found him speaking the truth.

She found the book she wanted across the room and Carlisle told her that it was their 'handbook', with the origin story, some sacred rituals and names of members up until the date that Carlisle had received the book - but it was likely that their relatives were part of the Volturi as well. Bella handed it to Myriam who quickly put it into their car without being seen and instructed Kol and Klaus to get some gasoline from the trucks and cars around them while Bella discussed some more with Carlisle, how to completely destroy the house and help the spirits move on.

Bella was relieved to see Jeremy and Linda return with Jasper and a worse for wear looking Rosalie from the top floor. "You were right, she was up there," Jeremy smiled at her and then looked around. "Where is Myriam?"

"On her way back, don't worry," Bella sighed relieved as she looked at Jasper and Rosalie. "You two deserve a chance together."

'Oh, we will certainly be happy in the afterlife, Miss Bella. The house has released us.'

"That's good to hear," Bella nodded, a smile forming on her face as she looked at Myriam who had just returned. "Hey, care to take two spirits home with us?"

"And then what?"

Bella shrugged as an answer. "Whatever they want, but at least it'll be in warmer climates."

"Sure, but the vials I brought with to contain a soul are already filled," Myriam smirked as she shrugged. "I couldn't help myself but to bring a little bit of power back to play around with."

"Myriam!"

"Don't worry, Linda made sure I didn't catch innocent ones," she grinned. "Have them be monkeys on Jeremy's back, I'll pry them off in New Orleans."

'Rose and I appreciate the sentiment, Miss Bella,' Jasper said kindly. 'But we have been around for a very long time and we want to move on. Together. Go into that glorious light and have peace.'

"Are you sure?"

'Absolutely,' Rosalie replied, a smile on her face despite her worse for wear appearance. 'We are tired, Bella, but thank you for your persistence in helping so many lost souls find their peace and thank you for caring about us, too.'

"Then I wish you two all the love and peace you desire and deserve," Bella smiled and nodded. "Thank you for your help and guidance, Jasper."

'Stay safe, peaches,' Jasper winked at her before he and Rosalie took their leave.

The peace of the whole situation was broken when Jace, Hugo and Drew walked back into the house with 'the vampire' and the electrical engineer on their heels. "Right!" Jace smiled widely as he looked at Bella. "You need to turn on your mic and camera, how else can we see what you're doing and share it with the rest of the world?"

Bella turned on her mic and smiled sweetly. "Sometimes you do things you don't necessarily want to share with the rest of the world, such as moving on a handful of spirits."

"Fine, whatever," he said as he rubbed his hands together in glee. "Since we're all here, how about a big experiment to end the night with? We'll set up some camera's here and some equipment and then Linda will lead us into a seance, what do you say? With so many gifted people around, things are bound to happen, yes?"

"Here? In the reception area?" Bella smiled as she looked around. There wasn't much left. Since she had released the anchors and Linda and Myriam had messed with the Vortex, all the spirits that wanted to leave, left. "I think the ballroom would be more exciting. There are mirrors in there, and I believe a few spirits are left there." And, with the mirrors, she wouldn't be spotted on the equipment that easily as mirrors were good at reflecting things. She could behave herself. "I mean, Linda has been here since the start, yeah? Not a single break for her, she must be exhausted."

"I am more worried about you," Drew said as he looked at her, a serious look on his face. "You're pale, you have bags underneath your eyes, you've been dealing with a full possession and god knows what else you've been doing right under our noses."

"You don't want me in?"

"I don't want you in," Drew nodded as he pointed at the door. "Enough is enough."

Bella looked at Jeremy and then at Myriam who had just returned. "Out?"

"Yes, you're out," Jeremy laughed as he playfully pushed her towards the door.

She sulked as she walked towards the door, turning off her mic and setting her camera on the table. The moment she walked out, she was greeted by Kol, who scooped her up and kissed her on her head. "Thank you."

"For what, darling?" He replied innocently. "For giving you an alibi to go and have some fun in the seance? For giving you an alibi to start messing with Edward and the house?"

"Yes," she smiled at him as she put her arms around his neck. "How's the gas hunting going?"

"If you're able to open the back door for us, we can easily sneak it in and start pouring it around. Sending them into the ballroom was a neat trick, that way they won't hear us at all," he replied before sighing. "I can't believe you managed to get Carlisle's support."

"I blasted his son into a thousand pieces for wanting to come after Myriam, he then realized I didn't need his permission to do anything but that I was merely being courteous and stuff. We have the same goal in mind; not to allow Eddie near the goods and I told him that I could help him with that."

"Still…"

"Don't worry, I really don't trust him," Bella replied as she softly kissed him after he put her down behind some trailer out of sight. "But yeah, if he can turn the gas on… that'd be a help, but then again, I can help him with that too."

"Happy haunting," Kol grinned as he kissed her. "Be careful and Nik and I will enjoy watching your shenanigans during that seance."

"I'm not going to mess with that seance if everything is going well, wouldn't want to hurt Linda's feelings," Bella grinned as she poofed out. She went to find Carlisle first, who was struggling with the knobs on the stove. Seeing as Bella wanted some time for the gas to penetrate the house, she helped Carlisle with the stove and had him show her to the furnace so she could do more damage as Esme discreetly tried to close some windows.

Bella then unlocked the back entrance and made one final pass of the ground floor and the first floor to see if there were any lost spirits that were in need of help, but all that was left was sticky darkness and she felt glad that she could have helped them all. In the ballroom the seance was happening, but there were absolutely no spirits around. And Bella felt sorry for that, but not really.

Linda was struggling to connect with spirits and even sighed. "I think we have to call it quits, there's nothing here."

'Are you sure about that?' Bella asked as she snuck up on Drew and poked him in the side, followed by a poke on the cheek.

"Woah, are you sure about that?" Drew said spooked as he looked around, wide eyed. "I was just poked. I swear!"

Bella then moved to ruffle Jace's hair and nudging some of his accumulated darkness to release him. Perhaps that made the guy a bit more bearable. "My hair!" Jace whined.

Linda smiled. "Thank you, spirit, for making yourself known. I sense a playful female spirit," she continued as she looked around the table. "Like many other spirits we have encountered this evening she was brought here."

Bella stood next to Jeremy and sighed. 'Anything for the views!'

Jeremy couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "She's playful alright."

"We have some equipment around the table for you to communicate with us, whatever is easy for you to use, please," Drew said as he pointed at the table filled with the paranormal puck, the Ovillus and some other things that Bella absolutely hated.

"I want you to be cautious," the electrical engineer said as he looked at his readings. "Whatever it is, it's giving off some strong readings."

"What's your name?" Hugo asked as Bella moved to the puck and rubbed her hands together in glee. She wouldn't have any problem with these devices and to communicate with them, but she needed to pretend she was an ordinary spirit.

^Myriam^

^Jeremy^

"Woah!" Jace cried out. "That is amazing! It's easy to say our names, but a name with three syllables?! Twice?!"

^Quiet^  
^Jace^

"She doesn't want to reveal her name," Linda said as she looked over to Jeremy, looking right past him and at Bella, causing Bella to move out of fright. "There's nothing to be afraid of, sweetheart. This is a positive and loving environment."

'Yeah right,' Bella huffed as she shoved the puck across the table. 'What else?' She quickly went over to the back door when she heard some banging and shook her head when Kol and Klaus were both running in and out of the house, splashing things around. Bella playfully shoved Kol to the sanctum.

"Oh, right, thanks," Kol grinned as he briefly stopped. "Go back playing ghost."

She went back to the ballroom and decided to stay around Jeremy again. 'Stalling is awesome.'

"Jeremy, a figure just appeared next to you," the electrical engineer said as he looked at his cameras. "And it's now sitting on your shoulders."

"Yep…" Jeremy rolled his eyes at that while Bella was laughing out loud, it was even picked up by the SB7 that Hugo was holding on the other end of the table.

"That was a woman's laugh, she didn't sound very nice," Jace said as he looked at Linda. "Are you sure we're dealing with a good one?"

"You need to get your ears checked, dude, she sounded like she was having a blast," Jeremy laughed as Bella was now playing with his hair.

"This house changes people," Jace said on a serious tone. "We've all experienced this tonight in different ways, it has affected us all. The spirits can't be trusted in this house."

'Aaaand that's my cue to see if we're good on the gas and gasoline,' Bella said as she hopped of Jeremy's shoulders and walked around the table to smack Jace on the head.

^Jerk^

^Wanker^

^Asshole^

"Seems like this spirit doesn't like you that much," Jeremy laughed as everyone stared at the Ovillus in shock. Bella moved through the house and all the areas were significantly doused, except for the reception area and of course the ballroom. The gas was already spreading through the house like a silent and invisible wildfire, and Bella thought it was time.

She found Carlisle and Esme, and Alice, in the kitchen. 'So, I'll have Eddie walk in here and to the Sanctum. Don't stop him, he's going to set the things on fire.'

'You're going to possess him?'

'Yep,' Bella grinned. 'He's so obsessed with me, now he'll feel what it feels like when I'm inside of him… and I'll need an even hotter bath afterwards…' She shuddered as she looked at Alice and then smiled. 'No offense, darling,' she winked at her before going outside of the house and behind the trailer to make herself seen again and Kol was waiting for her. "Hello," she smiled at him.

"Did you have fun?"

"Did it look like I had some fun?"

"Oh yes," he put his arms around her and pulled her closely against him. "But don't ever sit on Jeremy like that again," he said with a hint of warning in his voice. "You're mine."

"I could have sat on Drew."

"You could not have sat on anybody," Kol pointed out with a small smile. "I am so ready for this night to be over and to take you home with me. And then not have us leave our bed for days."

"I'm exhausted."

"I know you are, that's why I want to take you home and not have you leave the bed for days. We have never tested your abilities and your strengths to the extremes you're going through today, but I'm trusting you into not pushing it too far. Again."

"Hard part is over. Now the disgusting part," Bella softly kissed Kol and let go of him. "You have to let go of me so I can make Edward look like an asshole," she laughed at him. "Please."

"Can't I simply kill him, darling?"

"This is better. This means I can make him look like a fool, an asshole and a criminal all in one go, it'll ruin him," she was still being held by Kol. "He's not a very nice person, he doesn't deserve an easy exit out of this life. With a little luck, he won't be able to claim the damage to the house with any insurance company and he'll lose his job as a TV boss, freeing Drew and his buddies from a stranglehold, because their show does get the right numbers and this has all been a ruse to get me here."

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "Have you been spending too much time around us?"

"Nope, I can do with some more," she grinned as she softly kissed him. "Don't worry, I'm not straying that far into the darkness, I've already been warned a few times. I'm still your Bella who loves her spirits and hates the guy for making that house even worse than it already was. I owe it to them to ruin him," she then sighed as she put her arms back around him after realizing he wasn't going to let her go that easily. "I don't like this version of me, though, but what he did… everything that he did to that house to those spirits… and then the lengths he went through to orchestrate this… I need to remain fearless."

"Your heart is what makes you so beautiful," he eventually said as he let go of her. "I'm still not liking the idea and want to rip out his heart, but you are right, you deserve your revenge as well."

Bella let go of him and pointed at her mic pack. "But first… let's see if I can bait him a little in front of a camera," she smiled playfully and headed to the food table where she had last seen Edward lurking about. Turning on her mic, she went for a nice hot cup of tea and waited for Edward to show up and she didn't have to wait long.

She just didn't like his guest, and the fact that he was followed by a camera.


	30. Chapter 29

"Oh, Bella! Great! I finally am able to talk to you!" Edward greeted her with a big smile on his face.

"Mr. Cullen," she greeted him politely through gritted teeth and decided to put her hot cup of tea down just in case she'd hurt herself. The anger she felt was coming more off of Kol, she was near tears herself.

"Oh, and you do remember Jacob, right?" Edward said as he pointed at the guy next to him. "I thought it would be a great idea to have him around, to make sure people get the right idea of you and your actions and all! Your fans have always wanted to see you two reunite!"

She couldn't do this. Not after she learned the truth about Jake's involvement with her as her _friend_ and _chaperone_. Not after he abandoned her during a dark time. Not after… everything. Bella was well aware that she was looking like a deer caught in headlights. Stumped. Frozen.

"Bella," Jake had this big, fake smile plastered on his face and approached her to give her the biggest hug ever, but she didn't move to hug him back. She couldn't move. She wanted to, but she couldn't. "Come on, Loca, hug me back, I've missed you!" He hugged her even tighter.

There was a camera pointed at her and she knew Kol wasn't going to be able to rescue her from this. It was likely Kol was going to kill Jake the moment he had the chance. Jeremy was still inside the house, with Myriam, and Bella was doomed. She let out a tiny squeak and was relieved when Jake finally let go of her and it was then that Jeremy came running at them.

"Please, don't touch her," Jeremy said as he moved himself between Bella and Jake. "She works best if she's touched only by those she trusts," he said as he turned around to face her. "You okay?"

Bella shook her head as she bit her lip. She wanted to cry. She couldn't do this. She hadn't expected this to be a possibility, at all. She needed to go away and come back for the house later. But she couldn't do that to all the spirits that she had promised. She had to persevere. "I'll do it," she said in barely a whisper, but took Jeremy's hand as he turned around. "Jake."

"Hi, Jeremy," Jeremy said as he shook Jake's hand. "What an unexpected surprise," he said as he looked at Edward. "A little heads up would have been nice, Mr. Cullen!"

"Nonsense," Edward smirked as he pointed at some chairs that were ready for them. "Anyone who likes to watch Bella do her thing on youtube knows about the many requests for Bella and Jake to reunite, if only briefly, and I thought it would be nice to facilitate that happening. Surprises are what makes the world a more fun place to be!"

"Well, you did a great job at that, not even my team knew he was here," Jeremy replied as he helped Bella to sit down in a chair and handed her a glass of water.

"Ah, that's right, you are the new me!" Jake nodded. "But aren't there two of you?"

"Yes, but he's an off camera type of guy," Jeremy replied kindly as he watched Bella drink her water. "And I'm not the new you. I'd like to think of myself as better. We, as a team, look out for Bella's well being to make sure she won't be distracted by the darkness and have her go through all of her recovery again."

"Hey, I was a good friend," Jake said defensively as he pointed at himself. "It's just the crap that she allowed the spirits to do to _me_ that drove me away from her and her story telling ways."

"And everyone noticed that she wasn't doing well, except for you," Jeremy snarkily remarked. "Well done."

"Please don't fight," Bella said as she put her hand on Jeremy's arm and bravely smiled at him. "Because if he hadn't run away and had taken me home instead, I wouldn't be sitting here and living the great life that I have now with people who truly care about me."

"This may be news for everyone else, as it was for me, but Jake told me you were actually in a mental hospital for a while, is that correct, Bella?" Edward asked sweetly. "If he had returned you home, would you be in another one at this point in time? Don't get me wrong, what you do is amazing, but isn't it all just one big trick? A con? To create sympathy for you and earn money through it all?"

"If you truly believe that I'm a fraud, Mr. Cullen, why did you go through extreme lengths to get me to do this Halloween special with my friends? To expose me?" Bella countered as she dug her nails into Jeremy's arm. "Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, because as you are well aware from the report we've sent you after our first encounter with your lovely house, we found out that your family is one from a long line of cult worshippers. Believing in something completely ridiculous," she took a deep breath and continued.

"Your goal was to find the secret room in this house that held all the cult paraphernalia so you could join them, even though you already know you were rejected by said cult because of your own mental instability and your penchant to have unnatural obsessions with things. The spirits in this house, your ancestors, did a fucking good job to make sure nobody would find that room. It doesn't show up on the blueprints of the house and not even machines can detect it. That's why you hired Spooky Investigations first, and then me. And after that, you went a little overboard, didn't you? Hiring people who didn't exactly know what they were doing, or who dabble in the dark arts, creating portals, vortexes, put innocent spirits in that house and kept them there, plastered against the windows, walking around like zombies without any means of an escape." Bella took a sip of her water as she thought of her next words.

"What I just told you, has been documented tonight, it has been validated by the scientific equipment and the brilliant white witch named Linda. So the question is, am I really a fraud merely because I spent some time in a mental health hospital? Please. People like me, especially younger, tend to be sent to every psychiatrist in the world to see if there's something wrong with us, and then, because it's easy, are sent away, out of the public eye as not to embarrass their families. I would think that actually tends to give more to validation since we often wish to diagnose what we don't understand that is different."

Despite Bella's fear and anxiety, she was being formidable and alert, ready to take no prisoners. Jeremy was glad about that, but not about the nails that were still digging into his arm. "Breathe," he reminded her softly.

"Yeah…." Jake stammered as he looked at Edward. "Bella's parents took her everywhere to be seen. They had a lock on her door and window so she wouldn't wander off to see the spirits. Like me, she was homeschooled and our fathers believed we would be great friends, and we were."

"Drop it, Jake," Bella said angrily. "You were _paid_ to be my friend. You didn't like me at all, you were just greedy until you couldn't take it anymore. You didn't look out for me, at all, you didn't understand. You have no right to stand up for me like you're trying to do because you're one of _them_. You needed to keep an eye on me, make sure I ate and stayed alive, that's all. I am disgusted with myself for not having seen this. I've always defended you, right up to the point where I learned the truth about you," she then took a deep breath. "Congratulations, Mr. Cullen. I always try so hard to remain positive while there are cameras on me and never speak ill of people, but you have managed to make me do just that and I hope that the audience will forgive me for this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was about to go for another walk through of your house to see if there are any lost spirits that need my help," she said as she got to her feet and turned off her mic. Followed by Jeremy, she marched straight to Kol and dove into his arms, shaking from the adrenaline.

"Can I at least kill him, darling?" Kol muttered against her ear.

"Discreetly," she sighed as she clung on to him. "That was mean, very very mean."

"I'm sorry, I didn't see him before, neither did Nik… we didn't know."

"It's okay… makes me more determined now to get things rolling," she said as she looked at him. "I want him walking into that house on camera, anyway," she grinned before quickly kissing him and poofing out.

"Okay, here we go," Jeremy said as he followed Bella around and saw her disappear into Edward. "She's in."

Bella didn't like how Edward felt. He felt sticky. Icky. Dark. Twisted. His thoughts were impure and she had to fight him for a moment but managed to push him aside to gain control over his body. "Excuse me, Jacob," she said, as Edward, and rose to her feet. "I think it's time that I find that room myself."

"Need some help?"

"No, because I think I know where it is. They have been avoiding a certain area in the house. Go get something to eat, I'll write you a check when I return."

"You just said that on live TV," Jacob retorted in a hushed voice.

"Eh," 'Edward' shrugged. "Trying to discredit her didn't work, so why not let everything else go to hell?" He continued to march towards the house and Bella felt around in his pockets, not surprised to find a lighter there. 'Okay, Eddie, let me show you the room…' she told him as she continued to walk. She noticed that the others were packing up and didn't pay much attention to the owner of the house walking inside his own home followed by a camera and headed straight to the secret room.

Bella could feel Edward's excitement for it, how he marvelled in the dusty old books and seeing the altar, and then Bella showed him the blood. 'That's mine, asshole,' she said as she retrieved the lighter out of his pocket. "Could you leave me alone, please?" 'Edward' asked the camera man. "Just for a few minutes."

"Of course, sir," the man replied and after Bella was sure that he was gone, she opened the zippo and lit it. She could feel Edward struggle against her actions, and it was his own doing that the lighter got knocked out of his hand and fell straight into a puddle of gasoline.

Edward got a little scorched once the fire started to spread, so she moved him out of the room when she was sufficiently happy that the thing was beyond saving. She quickly left Edward's body and made herself whole behind the house before running around it and bumping into Drew. "There is a gas leak and a fire has started by Edward, you need to clear the house, _now_!"

"Are you sure?"

"Drew! If I wasn't sure about an imminent explosion, I wouldn't be this insistent! Call everybody out and clear the area!" Bella said as she pulled him along with her as he was giving the orders over the walkie. Hugo was the last one to cross the gate as he pulled Edward along with him and it was then when the whole house shook and exploded, in front of rolling cameras.

Bella had found the comfort and safety of Kol's loving arms when Edward walked towards her, breezing. "YOU! This is your fault!"

"Excuse me?" Bella blinked at him. "How is this my fault?"

"I don't know how you did it, but I know that this is a part of your vendetta against me!" Edward spat as Jeremy tried to hold him back. "Let go of me, she needs to pay!"

"Calm down," Jeremy said as he held Edward in a headlock. "I get it, your expensive house that has been in your family for quite some time has turned into a smouldering ruin, but that's no reason for you to blame it on her."

"Especially not since he started the fire," Jace said as he returned with a video recorded by one of the cameras, showing Edward in the hallway next to the burning room, fiddling with his lighter with a devilish smile on his face. "Please lock him up in his trailer, we've called emergency services and the cops but it'll take them awhile to get here. Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, thanks to Bella," Drew smiled at her. "Thanks!"

She watched as Jeremy took Edward out of the way and then looked at Drew. "It was nothing, you should thank the remaining spirits for alerting me to it," she looked past him to see Carlisle and Esme wave at her before they were taken by the Elementals the moment they set foot on the ground their brethren had been stuck on for centuries. She hadn't actually seen Alice go, but that was alright, Alice was a nuisance, but mainly harmless. If the girl wanted to stick around in the soon to be ashy ruins of the house, then so be it.

"Take her home, Kol," Drew told him. "We have enough camera evidence to show the cops what happened and she looks absolutely drained."

"Yeah, we'll go back with Myriam and her boyfriend once Jeremy gets back," Kol said as he shook Drew's hand. "Thank you for looking out for her and having her back. Seems like you lot have a spectacular ending to your special."

Drew let out a snort and nodded. "Yeah, that was unexpected, but glad everyone is safe. Have a safe trip home, I know it'll take a couple of hours."

"Don't worry, we'll get her home in one piece," Kol smirked as he squeezed Bella's shoulder. "Say goodnight to Drew, Bella."

Bella looked up at Drew and narrowed her eyes on him. "Don't ever do this to me again."

"I won't, I promise."

She huffed before smiling at him. "Goodnight, Drew. It has been _fun_." Bella was glad that Myriam greeted her with the angel statue when she and Kol arrived at the car. The books were in the trunk, as was the survival bag. Bella didn't quite need the angel statue anymore, but she gratefully took it and hugged Myriam tightly.

"Let's go home," Myriam smiled.

~o.O.o~

Bella slept for a couple of days, she had fallen asleep in the car and didn't wake up until Kol got impatient and tried everything he could to wake her. He and Jeremy had been deflecting phone calls and emails from the media, especially after Edward Masen-Cullen was arrested for multiple accounts of fraud and harassment, oh, and the murder of Jacob Black, whose body was found stuffed in a cupboard in Edward's mobile home.

But Bella needed to eat. She needed to take a shower and Kol just wanted to know she was okay.

"I'm awake," Bella muttered as she swatted Kol's hand away and rolled herself over in bed, covering herself with the blankets again. "Five more minutes."

"You've had three more days," Kol laughed as he pulled the blankets off of her and pulled her up. "Come on, sleeping beauty, time for a shower."

"Days?" Bella allowed herself to be manhandled by Kol as he pushed her towards the bathroom. "Days?"

"Yep."

"Well that's no fun," she pouted as she got undressed and stepped underneath the running shower, instantly waking up as it was cold water, and a lot of profanity escaped her lips, causing Kol to laugh and turn up the heat for her. "Well, I'm awake now!"

"Good," he grinned. "I'm going to make you some food while you cleanse your body from everything it's been through."

"Ugh. Alice. Edward. Ugh. Ew. Gross." She continued that mantra for a very long time while he made her food and it was hilarious. He texted everyone that Bella was back to her senses and waited for Bella to show herself. Thoroughly scrubbed and dressed in a summery dress despite it being the first week of November, Bella emerged from the bedroom. "I'm not ever going to do a thing like that again. Never. Ever."

"I know, darling," he smiled at her as he set down a cup of tea. "Eat. You have a lot of catching up to do."

"I do?"

"Oh yes, Jeremy and I have expertly deflected all of the media, it's time you do some of the work yourself," he stuck out his tongue to her and showed her the newspaper detailing Edward's arrest. "And you won't have to worry about this, either. Nik has taken care of it, you won't have to give a statement or face him again, or even go to court."

She nearly choked on her piece of chicken. "Jacob Black was found murdered and stuffed in a cupboard in Edward's trailer?"

"I told you I'd kill Jake," Kol smiled proudly. "And I took care of my kill, by covering it up and made Edward's life even more miserable. Because he deserves that. I couldn't kill him, but I could make his life even harder. So I did."

She continued to read the article and was surprised by what Edward had been charged with. Was it the truth or were most of these accusations planted, forged? In any case, he'd never see daylight again and Bella felt remarkably alright with that.

"Your fans adore you, you know that, right?" Kol asked as she pushed the paper away and continued to eat. "Throughout the Halloween event they kept tweeting and tweeting and ever since that broadcast, your youtube stats have been skyrocketing."

Bella thought for a moment and wasn't surprised that she wasn't surprised by it, nor excited. "Good thing to stop on a high, I suppose."

"I told you," Kol said surprised. "You don't have to give up your ghosts when you go and find something else to do that you think is fun."

"I'm done, for now," Bella replied softly. "Ready for something that won't try to kill me or my friends and ready for rainbows and puppies. Of course I'll still help someone who needs it, but other than that, no more."

"You'd like us to go to Italy ourselves and kill the Volturi for you?"

"I want to come with," she looked at him. "I want to look at their stupidity and obsessions myself. I want to be sure that Valerie is under their influence and I want to free her from that influence. She'll be the last spirit I'll save, for now. Have you had a chance to read the books yet?"

"We all wanted to, but this is your fight. You can read the books and tell us all about it while we make sure that the Volturi or any of their worshippers don't enter New Orleans. If we find worshippers in this city, they will be killed," when he saw the incredulous look on her face, he let out a snort. "We like to start somewhere, darling. There is no doubt that they will have seen the TV special, or seen snippets on the news, they will be coming for you."

Bella nodded as she polished off her plate and took a sip of her drink. "Thank you for my food, what's next?"

"You're going to take it easy," he said as he got rid of the plate in front of her and replaced it with her laptop. "Catch up with your adoring fans, I'm going to get you your books."

"No cuddling?" Bella pouted.

"Oh, we will cuddle," Kol grinned as he kissed her. "Don't you worry about that. You could, of course, make yourself comfortable in our chair and I'll join you shortly."

She giggled as she slipped off the kitchen stool and took her drink and laptop to the loveseat and nestled herself in there. She had no issues with taking things easy, in fact, she didn't even want to interact with her viewers, she wanted to put an end to everything she'd done previously. However, since it wasn't the time for that yet, she had to pretend everything was fine. Until the Volturi were taken care of, she was still Bella, the person who told stories told to her by the spirits.

There were so many mentions on twitter, however, that she couldn't possibly read through them all, not to mention to reply to them all. She waited until Kol returned and smiled at him. "I think I'm going to do a quick live video instead, how's that?"

"Are you sure?"

She turned her laptop around to show him. "Too many. Feels like actual work."

Kol laughed at that. "Are you going to do it by yourself? How about I play some video games while you do that?"

"Sure, sounds good," she smiled at him.

Kol let her get herself set up as he went about with his own, messaging Jeremy in the process to let him know he was about to start gaming. He also let his brother and his girlfriend know what Bella was up to, but he was certain that Myriam knew before anyone else as the voodoo bitch often knew more than she let on. Just the thought of her had him letting out a disgruntled grunt as he narrowed his eyes on the television.

Bella managed to avoid all questions about the Cullen House, Edward Cullen and everything related to that nightmare, although everyone was dying to know if that had been really her on live TV or her pretending to be someone else. "And, in closing, I do want to say that that was a very fed up and angry Bella you saw on TV. If you could have felt what I felt, could have seen what I saw, you would have likely acted uncharacteristically as well. I still love to tell their stories, and, while I haven't watched it all back, I will write them down and post them to my website after confirming the stories. Because you know me, I like to have evidence backing me up. Will I ever go to a horror house again? After the experiences we've had at the Cullen House? Well, all I can say is that nothing is as bad as the Cullen House and we're glad that everything turned out alright. Have a very-"

"Bloody asshole!" Kol shouted, cursing Jeremy. "You killed me again!"

Bella blinked before looking around the camera. "It's a good thing that I hear your voice, and that I see you playing a video game, Kol, but uh… we don't curse when I do these videos."

He looked over at her and smiled. "My apologies, darling. I'll have Jeremy come after you next time. You know how I feel about, erm, his killing me in these games," he shrugged, turning back to the television. "I'll get you back you bloody wanker!"

Bella blinked again, before looking at the camera again. "Have a very nice day, now, if you'd excuse me, I think I need to stuff a dirty sock into my roommate's mouth and then kick our friend's ass in the game under his name."

"Like you could catch me, love," Kol smarted, a smile on his lips as he bit his lip from cussing out again at Jeremy.

"Goodbye!" She laughed before disconnecting the video, putting the laptop to her side and headed over to Kol while she grabbed the second controller. "Let's kill Jeremy."

"Best idea I've heard all bloody day," he grinned, slapping a huge smacking kiss on her cheek as soon as she was next to him. "Take mine. I have to run across the street quickly. I need to restock our fridge."

Bella huffed. "You just want me to get you some points, you're really bad at this game."

"Just kill the wanker for me and I'll join in when I get back. We can switch out games once he dies a few times to see how it feels," he waggled his brows suggestively. "Then maybe we can go play something else."

Bella eyed the package she bought him weeks ago and was still resting on the counter. "With that, maybe?"

"Nah," Kol grinned before heading out.

She gave a pout as she looked back at the present. "Is he ever going to open it?"

"No," Jeremy laughed. "Is he seriously letting you play to kick my ass?"

"Yeah," she sighed turning back to the television and game. "He's really sensitive about dying. Even in these games. I can understand considering how many times he had actually died from what he and his family told me."

"He's also very competitive, he always had to fight for his place amongst his family," Jeremy reminded her. "And I am responsible for him dying, but look at us now, we're the best of buds."

Bella raised an eyebrow as she fought his character. "I'm sure he would argue that, but I see your point. Being the youngest brother, it couldn't have been easy. Rebekah would have been favored, regardless as she is the baby sister."

"He's never told you about his past? You do know that he was an unhinged psychopath, right?"

"Oh, no. He's told me about it. We came across one of his - tantrums in town that he had tried to get me to avoid," she sighed. "He burned down a house for laughs with people trapped inside."

"Klaus and Elijah didn't want to deal with him, the happy homicidal maniac Well, mainly Elijah, Klaus unboxed him for funsies," Jeremy said as his character was getting the shit kicked out of him. "Their relationship became a lot better after Kol's stint as a human witch, which is also when he reached out to me and actually forgave me for killing him. And what was I amazed, because boy, Kol Mikaelson knows how to hold a grudge!"

"I'm happy they seem to be getting along better now. As a vampire, he seems to be fairly controlled until someone pisses him off. I'm surprised he didn't do more with Edward," Bella admitted.

"That's because he couldn't, and because you told him you were going to take care of it, and must I say, you set him up brilliantly," he smiled. "He had a lot of fun killing Jake."

She grimaced. "I think I may had been spending a bit too much time around Kol and Klaus. I admit I may have enjoyed it too, a little too much. And that frightens me at the same time."

"The guy deserved it. You should ask Ylva, see what she thinks about it, but we all agree that you didn't cross a line there. If anything, because you took care of Edward, it was done in a somewhat natural way instead of him dying under unnatural circumstances and then we'd all be screwed because there'd be a police investigation and shit," Jeremy replied. "Sure, Kol killed Jake, but he made it look like Edward did it. The main problem right now is the land the house sat on. The debris are cleared, but the land is still there, and owned by Cullen still. Do you want to go back and cleanse it?"

"Yeah, but Jer, I'm supposed to be this balance. Edward made me feel very dark things and there's no way I'm going back there but yeah, the area needs to be cleansed, I'll send some of my friends."

"Every good person has a dark side. Or dark thoughts inside of them and sometimes they do act upon them. Does that make them bad? Or unredeemable? No. Hell, look at the entire Mikaelson family. They were fun loving humans before their parents turned them into a bunch of blood sucking monsters. They have been monsters for centuries and yet, they have changed their ways. Sure, they still have their moments, but they've found their way back to the light. From what I was told, you were allowed to stay this time because you are stable and fuel that light. You were created by the same spell that turned them. You need to forgive yourself for going into that grey area, because all you did was have Edward set his own place alight. And that's nothing compared to what anyone of us have been doing, including me. And stop killing me woman, allow me to heal!"

Bella smirked as she shot his character again. "Well, with the Cullen house done and the family here trying to plot out our move against the Volturi, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to develop cabin fever. Plus once Jacob's death gets back to Forks, I'm certain we will have to deal with my dad again - or who I thought was my dad," she muttered, confused at how she should feel about the man she grew up with.

"Oh, Jake's death hit Forks alright, the whole town is in mourning. There should be an invitation to his going away ceremony thing for you on the kitchen counter, but you know you don't have to go, right? Those people did nothing but manipulate you."

She looked over towards the kitchen and shifted uncomfortably on the couch. She couldn't help but wonder if she could have Kol and Klaus compel the entire town to her liking and immediately brushed it away. It'd be wrong...wouldn't it?

"What's on your devious little mind, Bella?" Jeremy laughed as he saw her on the camera. "You're thinking about something. Some more revenge?"

"It - crossed my mind," she admitted with a blush.

"Well, they deserve it. They messed with you for so long, you're entitled to having your revenge. And while you try not to get cabin fever, you can think about what you want to do after we've dealt with the Volturi."

Bella let out a strangled laugh. "So we're going to take a detour to Washington before going to Italy?"

"Yep, I think that the entire family will want in on that, you should go over and inform them while I lick my wounds because damnit, you killed me - again."

"Sure, sure. You got your ass kicked in a video game by a girl," Bella grinned, standing up from the couch. "I'll have Kol give you a call later with what's going on. I think we will more than likely fly out for this one though. A road trip will just be too long."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Mikaelson! Talk to you later!"

She turned back to the television with a scowl as she was about to turn it off. "Don't say that!"

* * *

A/N: Hi everyone! No, this isn't a message saying that this story will end soon. In fact, there's some... plot twists that got the juices flowing again and as we write this, we're working on chapter 37.

No, this is a message saying that we love you all and for sticking with us as this story is still a work in progress, but now updated regularly.

Meeko has started to post a new story called Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler, an NCIS New Orleans/Hawaii 5-0 crossover with Myriam in it, and all human Mikaelsons! Go check her out, her username is meekobb.

Buggy has started to post a new story called Lagniappe and it's an The Originals/The Vampire Diaries story telling the story of Myriam Jenkins. You can find Buggy at buggyfiction here at ffnet.

Thank you all for sticking with us!

meekobuggy


	31. Chapter 30

"This place is dreadful," Rebekah said bored as she looked out of the window of the rental car she was sitting in with Kol, Jeremy and Bella. Her remaining brothers and Myriam were in the car following them. "Flat scenery, trees, mountains… ugh, clouds."

"We've been to worst places," Kol mused. "Usually one of those places Nik loved so much because of the _art_ and _culture_." He hadn't been entirely surprised by Bella's request yesterday at the compound. She looked as if she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar when she requested to head to Forks to Jacob's memorial and have them fuck with everyone who fucked with Bella in the past.

No one fucked with his girlfriend and got away with it, even if it was years before they'd even met. They'd spare Charlie, for seeing the error in his ways and Klaus and Myriam had already done a number on him, but everyone else was fair game. And compulsion was fun to create mayhem with in such a small community.

Bella sighed as she ignored the passing scenery with nothing more than a glance. "Imagine growing up here. Rain all the damn time. I could probably count the number of sunny days I've experienced on one hand. At least until they sent me to the asylum."

Kol placed a hand on her leg as he continued to drive. "Darling, if this is too much on you, we can always just leave."

"No, it's fine. I just agree with Rebekah. Forks is the most boring town in the country and the weather sucks more than you vampires," she casually replied. "I'm just wondering more about when we get to Italy is all. This stop I think is good."

"If you want, we can head straight to Italy tonight after we're done here," Kol said as he pulled up. "You can sleep on the plane if you need it."

"Have you heard from Val after the Cullen House?" Jeremy wondered out loud.

"No," Bella answered before looking back at Kol. "And if you don't stop trying to baby me, I'll actually ask your brother to put you in time out. It's starting to piss me off."

Rebekah started to laugh. "I've been trying to tell them for _years_ not to be so overprotective, darling. It's a constant battle and you'll never win."

"Bella might," Jeremy grinned.

"Who asked your opinion?" the blonde vampire questioned, still struggling to understand the Gilbert boy's acceptance into the family. Elijah and Klaus hadn't accepted him, but tolerated him because Myriam and Kol insisted. Bella was Kol's girlfriend, and Kol, Bella and Jeremy made their own little family. She still held a grudge against Gilbert for killing Kol all those years ago, but acted _friendly_ and _tolerable_ around him for her brother's sake.

"You don't have to bite my head off, Rebekah, I'm a fun guy, just ask Bella."

Bella had already turned back to her book, trying to ignore the bickering. "Leave me out of this. I still kick your ass at Kol's video games and kill you in them when he gets pissed at you since he isn't allowed to kill you for real. Last thing we need is for him to find a reason to detour and set up that damned console again," she scolded.

"I can't help it that he sucks at that game," Jeremy shrugged.

"Oi!" Kol accelerated suddenly to make sure Jeremy would hit his head against something.

"And he's a sore loser."

"Bite me, Gilbert."

"I thought you did the biting, Kol," Bella replied, looking up at him with an innocent expression.

"Fuck me, Bella," Kol groaned.

Rebekah raised an eyebrow, and she had to admit, this whole strange dynamic was… strange, but somehow, she actually liked it. Three very different supernatural creatures being so… blasé about things, no fear of embarrassment, so… themselves. No boundaries. So freeing.

"You still haven't opened that package I got you, so - no."

As he continued to drive, Kol turned his glare on her as she smirked back at him. "What's so important about it that my not opening it is bothering you?"

"No reason. If you'd open it, then you'd know what was in it," Bella shrugged and turned back to her book.

"But every time your eyes fall onto that package, or when we even talk about that package, you get this lovely shade of red on your cheeks."

"If you're so curious about my blushing then open the damn thing when we get home," the girl snapped.

"Ah, but darling, I like to see you squirm," he winked at her.

"Guys, you're being gross now," Jeremy said before looking at Rebekah. "Hey, weren't you with her when she bought it?"

Rebekah raised an eyebrow and looked over at Bella who was now glaring at her. She couldn't help but to cower back in the seat herself. "I was, but that doesn't mean I have to say what she bought. Kol was given a present and it is rude not to open it."

"But wouldn't you do the same, Beks, if the person you're with has this gorgeous response to it every time he or she sees the little gift they bought for you?" Kol said teasingly.

"Guys, come on, stop," Jeremy groaned. "Are we there yet?"

Bella let out an exasperated sigh as she looked out the window. "Yeah, thankfully. We're not far from the town border. Another mile or two down the road."

"For the love of God, this is taking far too long!" Rebekah whined. "It's so dull out here! Can we at least eat someone?"

The girl appeared thoughtful as she stared out the window, considering the request. She really did hate her time there. "Perhaps. There are a couple people in particular I'd put forward, though if what I heard about them is true, I wonder if vampires can get diseases."

"Or we could just set fire to the entire town," Kol shrugged. "Nothing like we haven't done before."

"There _are_ innocent people here. I'll point out those that you can play with and who you will leave alone, alright?"

Jeremy let out a snort. "Do Klaus and Myriam know that?"

"If they're not, they soon will," Kol said amused as he looked at the determined face of his girlfriend. "We'll do whatever your heart desires, darling. Will you be playing too? Maybe resurrect young Jacob from the dead?"

She glared at him again. "Why the fuck would I want to do that?"

"Get into his dead body, get out of the coffin, scare everyone shitless," he mused. "Confuse the hell out of people. I didn't mean actually resurrect him, although I wouldn't mind killing him again."

"I don't want to be in him. I don't want to be anywhere near him. We're only here because his death gives us an excuse to be so that we can fuck with certain people."

Kol was quiet for a moment. "Yeah… that idea was gross, sorry."

"It was beyond gross considering the asshole made it clear he wanted to be more than friends with me on more than one occasion and got pissed whenever I turned him down. Which because of that, we might have some issues with his dad because he and Charlie had some long lived fantasy about us being together," she said with a snarl to her lips.

"'Edward' killed Jake, you had nothing to do with it," Kol sneered. "And Jake's father can just as easily join his son in hell for all I care."

Bella shifted uncomfortably as they passed the Welcome to Forks sign and ignored Kol for the moment. She really didn't want to get into the Native American histories and their mystical stories of their own ancient magic that she wasn't so certain was only fables anymore. Especially after learning of vampires and her own truths. "Um, there may be a slim chance that you might not be able to get onto the reservation," she quietly admitted.

Kol thought for a moment and sighed. "Jacob was Quilete?" Of course. He had come across them once or twice. Morons. Idiots. Morals up high but backstabbing assholes and of course, it wasn't a surprise that they messed with Bella.

"It's the only reservation around here," she shrugged. "They have cousins of a sort in Alaska I think. I largely ignored most of the stories whenever I was there."

"We'll be able to get onto their reservation, they're not as devout as they claim to be. Easily corruptible. Your friend Jake has proven that," he said angrily.

Bella still wasn't sure because she knew that the elders, other than Billy, held a strong sense of hatred for her that she never was able to understand. Choosing to say nothing, she shrugged again. "If you're sure."

"They may have had some issues with vampires in the past, but from what I have heard they never put up wards against us, and if we can't get onto the reservation, well, then we'll think of something."

Rebekah started to share in Bella's concern. "Maybe they learned something since you were here last. It's been a long time Kol. If anything, it won't hurt us any if we proceed with a little caution."

"You're starting to sound like our brothers," Kol muttered, knowing that they were still in the car behind them. "Oh! But we have something they wouldn't ever expect!"

Bella looked back at Kol, suspicious of his sudden excitement. "Pray lord, tell me what your master idea is."

Jeremy even looked nervous at the sudden switch of demeanor in the vampire. "This can't be good," he mumbled.

"We have a voodoo priestess in the car following us," he reminded them. "One that's very happy that Bella's her friend and she's really upset by how Bella got hurt by these jerks."

Rebekah winced, resisting the urge to look towards the car behind them. While she didn't always get along with her brother's girlfriend, she did have to admit that once Myriam get pissed, she was just as destructive as her brother. Perhaps worse. "And you want to let her loose on this little town? You may as well invite the Volturi over and have a picnic."

"Oh, we had a picnic with Nik and Myriam before Bella dealt with our darling mother," Kol grinned. "Myriam _loves_ picnics."

"What?" Bekah deadpanned.

"Oh, right. You weren't there," Kol sighed. "Jer, tell her the story."

"What?" Jeremy blinked. "Seriously?"

"Tell her the story, Jer."

"I was only there for the beginning of it, you left me to deal with Damon and Elena and I'm still not happy about that!"

Rebekah turned to glare at the hunter. "Your bloody sister and one of the irritating Salvatores was in New Orleans?!"

"Yeah, they were worried about my safety," he huffed. "Anyway, it all started when we went to the Sanatorium and explored it, trying to get used to how Bella worked and all… At some point during our visits she encountered a friendly but not so friendly spirit."

"Our mother," Kol pointed out. "As it turned out, she wasn't a spirit but something else and guess what? A Volturi whore. Bella knew she wasn't going to be able to get rid of her in New Orleans, but instead we went to a place where her friends were, some Native American Elementals who were more than willing to help her out because she had helped them and treated their dead with respect. And Nik and Myriam were there too, because mother has this obsession with Nik and all. Nearly lost Bella, but she and the Elementals took care of her."

Rebekah was speechless as she sat there. "Um, um…"

Bella pretty much ignored the whole thing, tired of how happy the siblings were for their mother to be gone again from their lives. It was old news to her by now. "Go up the street and turn right at the old convenience store. Drive for three blocks and Charlie's house is on the right. His cruiser should be in front."

"Do you regret leaving us for so long, sister?" Kol smiled as he did as he was told. "Because you know, you missed a lot of fun and now that Bella's going to try a different path after we're through with the Volturi… wouldn't it be fun to do it all together?"

"I'm starting to see that," Rebekah whispered in her shock.

"Don't worry. You'll catch up eventually," Jeremy assured her. "It could be worse."

Rebekah huffed. "Worse!"

"Yep," Jeremy grinned as he spotted the cruiser next to a house. "That house looks awfully small," he noted. "Not even we lived in a house as small as that."

Kol glared at him through the rearview mirror. "While our family compelled our way from rags to riches, not everyone is able to come from affluent families like they seem to do in Mystic Falls."

Bella agreed, looking a little wistful as she looked up at the house. "The house itself wasn't that bad through the years. It was just the dreams and everything else I had to deal with. Plus the whole lock on the bedroom door and shit," she added with a sigh. "Other than that, it was fine."

He parked the car behind the cruiser and softly squeezed Bella's leg. "Charlie's safe. Nik and Myriam would never have let him go if he weren't."

"It's just…" Bella sighed. "I had never expected me to come back here and I really don't intend on staying long. We're here to pick him up and get to the rez, that's it."

"I'm not even going to get a tour?"

She thought for a moment and shook her head. There was no doubt in her mind that her room would look just the same and that would send him, and all the other vampires likely in a worse rage. "Rebekah could you join Klaus, Myriam and Elijah in their car? I'm going to get my dad."

"Of course," Rebekah smiled at her as she got out of the car and Bella headed up the stairs to knock on Charlie's door.

Charlie was surprised to see his daughter stand before him. "Bella? I- I thought you wouldn't come after everything?"

"I got an invite. Would be disrespectful if I wouldn't show up," Bella replied as she stepped aside to make room for Charlie. "Although I would have thought that they wouldn't want me there after I discredited their son live on air."

Charlie shrugged. "Their beliefs are different than ours."

"But still, I brought my family," she said as she motioned to the cars. "We're heading to Italy after this."

"Vacation?"

"Sure," she smiled at him as she helped him into the back of the car to sit next to Jeremy. "Dad, that's Jeremy, and Kol's behind the wheel," she said as she got into the passenger seat. "Let's get this over with," Bella let out a breath.

~o.O.o~

As Kol had expected, there were no issues for them to cross the treaty line because the Quileutes weren't actually that fanatic in their beliefs and their magic. And they were all surprised to see her. And she was curious to see if they were as delusional as Jake or if they had learned their lesson and would be apologetic.

While her dad moved to support his friend and Jake's father Billy, Bella decided not to join them and watch from a distance and thought of all the things she could do. It was easy to allow her family to simply round up everyone and snack on them. Kill them. But the tribe had known what they'd been doing all along and were not ashamed to take money from it from her parents.

Their deaths shouldn't be easy. She had to be careful because her thoughts were once again leading her into a pretty dark place. She was supposed to be balance.

However, Bella felt anger bubble underneath her skin when the spirits of the tribe appeared and pulled Jake's spirit out of his body to join them during the ceremony and she had to put a stop to that.

Kol had kept his eyes on her this entire time, ready to kill for her if she so requested and all of a sudden she had poofed out. "Jer," Kol sighed. "What is she up to?"

"Oh," Jeremy sighed as he couldn't see her but then remembered he hadn't opened himself up for it because he had anticipated her just telling the Mikaelsons to go and eat. "Fighting with the ancestors."

"As you do."

"As you do," Jeremy nodded.

'How can you want to take him with you to go in peace?' Bella yelled at them as she kept Jake from moving on. 'Do you have any idea what he's done? He's not a good person and doesn't deserve to join you!'

'Whether or not he joins us is not of your concern, and you have no authority over us.'

'I don't?' Bella huffed. 'Well, I guess I don't. Then I'm just gonna do this instead,' she added as she grabbed hold of Jake and focused her energy inside of him, filling him up, expanding him outwards until he exploded in dark confetti like substance. 'No happily ever after for you, douchebag.' She then turned to the ancestors. 'And you! How can you allow your brothers and sisters to act like they have? Treat others wrongly? They need to be punished!'

Kol looked up to the sky and saw that clouds were unnaturally forming over the beach. "Uhh…"

"I'm not going to wait for Bella," Myriam said as she rushed to the group of people and started killing them, causing mass panic and a lot of blood shed. Klaus and Rebekah soon followed and Kol was torn between having some fun and waiting for Bella to return.

In the midst of all the slaughter, Bella popped back in next to Kol and smiled at him as he was feeding on Leah Clearwater. "Keep going, I keep destroying their souls on the other side."

"Won't that upset the balance you need to keep? I mean… won't they unmake you again?" Kol asked worried as he dropped the woman he was snacking on. "You're light, Bella."

"I'll be fine," she gently put her hand on his cheek and smiled. "This is something Ylva and I feel like we should do."

"Are you sure?" Since when did Ylva get into play? She'd be against this, wouldn't she? What were these two up to? He had loved Ylva, and she basically sacrificed herself because she wasn't _complete_ and the Volturi had been after her. What if it'd happen to Bella? "Bella, I don't want to lose you."

"Don't worry," she smiled at him before poofing back out of existence.

"Jeremy, you better keep an eye on her!" Kol growled at him before taking his place right next to the only one who could see Bella right now. "I don't like what she's doing. She's overdoing it. First the Cullen House and now making sure nobody from this tribe gets a happily ever after. While she did most of things out of the goodness of her heart, this is revenge."

Jeremy nodded as he let out a breath. "She's being kind about it, either. The old woman is egging her on."

Kol was surprised by that. "You see Ylva?" How was that possible? Ylva was Bella. Bella was Ylva. To see the both of them, what would that mean? Then again, for all intents and purposes, Bella was something impossible herself.

"Yeah, she's like faded and all but Bella is talking to her and is leaving her alone, so I guess it's Ylva. I dunno," Jeremy shrugged. "I can't understand a word they're saying, either. It's all in hushed voices and I don't want to get close to them in case one of you thinks I'm a snack. Speaking of, what to do with Charlie?" Jeremy thumbed over his shoulder to the stunned human looking at the carnage, seeing his friends die at the hands of Bella's new family.

"Well… he did Bella wrong."

"But Klaus and Myriam compelled him to be repentant," Jeremy pointed out. "He knows what he did was wrong."

"Two wrongs doesn't make a right," Kol growled as he made an attempt to go to Charlie, but Jeremy stopped him. "What!"

"Wait for Bella," he said kindly.

"Why? We already killed her mother for being the bitch that she was!"

"And the mastermind and the force behind Bella being treated like crap, so, wait for Bella," Jeremy told him. "I understand you're angry and likely afraid for some reason, but wait for Bella to tell you what to do with him. Shouldn't be much longer, you guys move fast."

"Dude, if Ylva's physically there, if you can see her, something is off. Ylva is Bella, we told you."

"We don't know that something's wrong."

"But what if!"

Jeremy laughed. "Everyone who's happy gets haunted by those words 'what if'. Relax, she'll tell you if something's wrong."

"What if she won't because she knows it'll hurt me?"

"What if again," Jeremy rolled his eyes at him. "Relax. Although I think you'll only relax once we've dealt with the Volturi and Bella comes out unschathed."

"That's right," Kol murmured as he crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath. "But you're likely right. Just that Ylva's shown up doesn't have to mean anything."

"Exactly."

"But what if it does?"

Jeremy tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a groan. "Kol!"

~o.O.o~

Bella had reluctantly invited everyone inside the Swan home after setting the reservation ablaze and told them not to go upstairs but find a place to sit downstairs as she sat down at the table with a still pretty much shocked Charlie. She had retrieved a bottle of beer out of the fridge and had put it between his hands and waited patiently for her father to come back to his senses.

"Bella, what the hell was that?" Charlie eventually asked. "And why did I allow you to go through with that? You should be arrested for this!"

"I'm a ball of energy and they are vampires, won't work," she replied with a little shrug. "But, I do think that you should move on from this place," she replied as she looked at him. "This place holds bad memories and we just killed your friends."

"Are you going to kill me?" Charlie asked her as he looked at her. "Because I-"

"Dad," she smiled at him as she placed her hand on his. "You did a lot of things wrong, but you listened to mom, and, no offence, you're a doormat and she had you wrapped all around her little finger. You could have found your balls, eventually, but you know… I already went through all the shit you put me through so…" Bella shrugged as she looked at Kol, briefly, who was looking at the stairs before looking back at her father. "Maybe we can help you. Have Klaus compel you to have a better life and to make better choices."

"You're letting me off that easy?"

"No," she smiled at him. "I'd ask him to erase me from your life completely. You'd never know you had me."

"Don't you dare!" Charlie growled at her, grabbing her hand. "You're my daughter and I love you! How can you make me forget you? Why would you do that?!"

"Because, if you'd remember me you'd remember the things you did wrong and you won't be able to move on with your life," Bella said softly. "But it's fine if you don't want to, though. But I don't want you to live your life like this and torturing yourself about it."

"Bella, I-"

Bella winced when she heard something break upstairs and realized that Kol had gone upstairs against her wishes. She quickly went upstairs to see her bedroom door broken in half, half of it laying in the hallway, the other in her bare room, and Kol was standing in the middle of her room with tears in his eyes. "I told you not to go up here," she said as she kept standing in the doorway, not wanting to step inside, afraid that the door would magically repair itself and locking her back in there.

It wasn't a completely bare room. There was a desk with a chair and some books on shelves, her walls were covered in drawings and stories of the spirits she'd spoken to when she was younger. There was a set of drawers that used to hold her clothes and her teddy bear was sitting on top of it. And who could forget the bars on her window? "Come," she whispered as she held out her hand, the memories overwhelming her. "Please, just get out of there."

"Your father doesn't deserve a clean slate," Kol spat as he wiped his face with his sleeve and took her hand, angrily stepping outside. "He deserves death and this house needs to go up in flames."

"Kol…"

"There was a lock on your door, Bella!" he said as he pointed at the now non-existent door. "Bars on your windows, your room looking more like a luxurious prison cell than a proper bedroom!" He then let go of her and walked into the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet. "And he still has the medication they put you on in the cabinet! Jesus fuck, Bella!" He ripped the cabinet off the wall and threw it in the bath. "What else is there?"

"Just come back downstairs, please."

"What else is there?"

"Nothing!"

"Liar!" Kol spat at her. "What else aren't you telling me? Why did Jeremy see Ylva when you were making sure those Quileutes weren't able to pass on?"

"I'm not lying!" Bella took his hand again and started to pull him downstairs with her. "Everything's alright now, Kol," she said a bit more calm as she tugged on his hand. "I don't live here anymore. I'm living my best life ever and that's all thanks to you and your family," she said as he finally gave in and followed her downstairs.

"Your father doesn't deserve a new life," he muttered as he wrapped his arms around her as soon as they hit the ground floor. "Please let me kill him so we can burn this house down?"

"I didn't want him dead. Deep down… he's-"

"Going to be taken advantage of again. You can't compel such a thing out of a person and change their personality, darling," he sighed as he kissed the top of her head. "If he meets someone like your mother it could all go wrong, again. We just killed an entire tribe of Native Americans because they treated you like they did and you don't want to kill your own father for doing the same?"

"He's my father."

"And we killed your mother," he said before looking over Bella and met his siblings gaze. "Go upstairs and look, you'll have the same sentiment."

Bella was fighting a war she couldn't win. She was a bit frazzled from their actions at the reservation and now she couldn't save her father. Perhaps Kol was right. And perhaps Klaus, Myriam, Elijah and Rebekah were right too after they had seen the upstairs area. It didn't mean that she was ready to be an orphan, even though Charlie hadn't been her real father and even though he'd treated her poorly.

And it wasn't as if you could stop an angry family of vampires, so she went outside with Jeremy instead while her family descended upon her father.

* * *

Meeko has updated Laissez Bon Temps Roulez, her Hawaii 5-0/NCIS New Orleans fic that has Myriam in it over at this website meekobb

Buggy has updated Lagniappe, her The Vampire Diaries/The Originals story that has Myriam in it over at this website buggyfiction.

Thanks for reading! xx


	32. Chapter 31

Oh, she knew she had to sleep some on the plane, or at least try to but she hadn't read the books they had retrieved from the Cullen House and she hadn't exactly told her family what Carlisle had told her, frankly, the story he told sounded similar but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Carlisle Cullen told me that the Volturi were created in the Old World," Bella said as she started to read through the first book. She was nestled in Kol's lap on one of the sofa's the private plane had and felt comfortable, safe. "The continent of Scandinavia, to be precise, before moving to Italy and settling in a place called Volterra. Apparently, their leader didn't want to stay in the cold for a long period of time and Carlisle believed that another reason was that their leader had a spat with her sister, who moved to the New World with her young family," she said before stopping at a page and stared at it. "So, that was over a thousand years ago, around the time you came to the New World."

"Scandinavia?" Klaus questioned as he looked at Elijah. "It's highly unlikely but why do I have the feeling that we might know who set up the Volturi?"

"Can you read that?" Kol softly asked as he pointed at some text. He had already recognized it as a mix of Ancient Runes and Italian, perhaps Latin, and he had only grasped the idea of the words. When Bella shook her head, Kol sighed. "I hate the be the bearer of bad news, but I think that our family is responsible for the start of the Volturi," he told his family. "From what I can read is that there once were two sisters who were taken from their village by Vikings. They both dabbled in Magic, the elder sister being more into it than the younger. To keep them both safe, the Elder sister performed magic for the Vikings. When the youngest sister fell in love with one of their captors, the elder sister got mad. It was worse when the younger dared to ask the elder for help when she couldn't conceive."

"I think I heard something about that," Elijah said thoughtfully. "But I can't remember much of it."

"The elder sister reluctantly helped her younger sister, but telling her that she was going to come for her first born and every firstborn in the new generation. Five years later, the elder sister held true to her word and took the daughter born to her sister and left for Italy."

"I do recognize that name," Bella said as she pointed at the Ancient Runes. "That says Esther, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Kol let out a breath and pointed at the other name. "That was Esther's sister Dahlia," he said before pointing at the other name which was closer to Esther's. "And that name is Freya."

Elijah got to his feet and took the book out of Bella's lap and read. "Impossible," he muttered. "Freya died because of consumption. Mother and Mikael moved us to the New World because of this, because the word was that people were healthy and strong."

"Are you saying that our deranged aunt is the reason the Volturi exist?" Rebekah blinked. "I know that we as a family are the source of a lot of hurt, but we'd never do something as twisted as this… well… apart from Elijah's elite society, of course."

"They weren't evil, just egotistical," Elijah chided his sister as he continued to read. "This does sound like it has everything to do with our aunt, and our sister who didn't die from consumption. She was merely taken by Dahlia. Citing that first-born witches from their line had immense power and that Dahlia was the only one who could control that power."

"That's ridiculous."

"In any case, Dahlia went on to gather followers who were interested in immortality. Even back then she wanted to live forever, or at least find a way. When word came from the New World that her sister had actually succeeded with creating the first vampires, and hearing what we were, Dahlia got angry and was going to find a way without having to rely on the blood of others to survive," Elijah continued as he sat down with the book. "Dahlia still had friends amongst the settlement in the New World and they followed her teachings and it was then that they discovered a being of energy, a side effect from the spell mother created, even though their child had been with them for nearly 20 summers."

"And we know the rest of the story," Kol said as he put his arms around Bella.

"Well, yes, but not the rest of Dahlia's story," Elijah said as he continued to thumb through the pages. "Dahlia and Freya worked hard on gathering followers and had quite a few. Thinking of ways to harness the power of that energy being, but all Freya wanted was to be reunited with her family. Her real family, and sabotaged most of the attempts. When Ylva disappeared, Dahlia flew into a rage and killed Freya, binding her essence and making her do Dahlia's bidding, basically enslaving her and using her for her power."

"Dahlia eventually died, but the ones who are in charge keep using Freya as a means to an end. For a long time, the cult was forgotten about with its members still looking for that energy being, until rumors started about the energy being having returned. And then disappeared after a few years. They tried mapping the cycle but it was completely random."

"The Volturi have witches and mediums in their ranks and some ghosts told them about their encounter with someone really special, but wouldn't say who it was."

"Carlisle said they had Dark Witches on their side," Bella said, not liking what she was hearing and she could tell that Kol wasn't liking it either. The Volturi had known more about her than previously known. She then let out a breath. "He said that even you couldn't help me take the Volturi down and that it was best to turn myself in. They believe they have special cages for someone like me so I can't escape. I think something along the lines of those locks and portals in the Cullen House."

"They don't know us, darling," Kol said encouragingly. "And we're going to take them all down."

"Carlisle said that if I'd turn myself in, or get caught, they'd likely experiment on me or try to… uh… breed me."

"Absolutely not going to happen!" Myriam and Kol chorused. "What the hell?"

"He said because I'm not human, human rights don't apply," Bella shrugged, letting out a small yawn. "But I do want to take them down or die trying. Enough is enough. What if there's someone else like me? One they don't know of? Would they be hunted down, too?"

"To be fair, I don't see why they don't want to turn into vampires. If they want immortality, that's the way to go," Myriam shrugged.

"Well, because they might want to live a normal life, perhaps?" Rebekah countered. "Have children? You can't do that when you're a vampire."

"If that's the only thing," Klaus shrugged. "Perhaps we should turn them all."

"That wouldn't stop them in their endless pursuit," Elijah replied. "They have been after Bella for over a thousand years, what's to say turning them would stop them from trying to capture her?"

Kol sighed as he gently caressed Bella's back as she had fallen asleep in his arms. "I know a coven of friendly witches near Rome, perhaps they would like to help us out."

Myriam had grabbed one of the other books and agreed with Kol. "These 'rituals' in this book are elaborate spells, I think we could do with some witchy help. Of course, I'll be doing the best I can from my end, but to be honest, this whole thing might get a bit too much for all of us," she then looked at Elijah and pointed at the book. "I suspect they have a list of members in there, can you do a count?"

"It won't be up to date."

"We'll get an estimate. They won't be all at Volterra, and will likely be spread around the world, as would I do if I'd have a slimy group like this, but Volterra will hold their leaders and likely a bunch of followers," she said as she put the book back down and gently lifted Bella off of Kol's lap and put her down on one of the beds. Myriam covered her with a blanket and sat down next to Kol. "Now… you were anxious at the Rez and you disrespected Bella's wishes at her childhood home, talk to me."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. Talk to me," she smiled at him as she ran her hand through his hair.

Kol let out a breath and looked at his siblings who were too focused on the books and Jeremy was nodding off, but he already knew. "I think Bella's overdoing things and she's crossing the line too much. What if she gets taken away from me?"

Myriam smiled then. "When people have a good relationship and everything goes well, that question pops up all the time. It's just that little bit of doubt and self-preservation that's nagging. Doom thinking. It can drive someone mad with worry and cause them not to enjoy their life as much as they should."

"That's just it," he sighed. "This is the first time ever… well, since Ylva, which was basically the first version of her, that I feel this way. I don't want her to leave me, Myriam. I want her to be careful. She slept for 3 days after the Cullen House, then we dove straight into punishing the Quileutes with Bella tapping into her darkness and not a day later we're jetting off to Italy to take care of the Volturi, which will also likely cause her to do things out of revenge or hate instead of the light that she is. She barely used her gifts, only to talk to spirits, and now she's doing everything and I'm afraid that Ylva and her will discuss this and come to the conclusion that she's once again too powerful for her own good."

"And you're immortal, you'll find her again if she does."

Kol scowled as he pushed Myriam away from him. "I don't want a new version, I want her! She's bloody overdoing it and I'm afraid the whole darkness is my fault. _Our_ fault. She saw Ylva, for fuck's sake! Jeremy told me they were chatting while we were taking care of the tribe! That's not supposed to happen!"

"Why not?"

Kol rolled his eyes at his sister-in-law. "Nik."

"Ylva and Bella are the same being, the same creature. For Ylva to show, Bella must be either getting stronger, or she's fragmenting," Klaus replied with a sigh. "You don't know what it looked like in her head. There was a smaller version of her present as well, and who knows other attempts that were hiding." Klaus let out another breath and then smiled. "However, before we jump to conclusions, this could also be a positive thing, that Bella's evolving into her own person."

"But we don't know that," when Kol first got to know Bella he couldn't wait to explore her dark side but now that they were actually exploring just that, or perhaps because she was infected by the family's dark side, he wasn't so sure if they should continue doing this. She deserved better.

"We don't know anything," Klaus told him. "The only one who might know for sure is Bella, but even she might not know everything about herself."

"But what if I lose her, Nik?"

"Then we will do everything in our power to get her back to you. To us," he said with full confidence. "We've done stranger things." And Kol was right, his brother hadn't been this smitten with anyone since Ylva. He only had casual flings or was boxed and he had claimed Bella as his perhaps three days after their first encounter? It had taken Klaus a while to claim Myriam as his, but that was because he refused himself from feeling anything other than rage, betrayal, and paranoia, that _love_ was something foreign. Kol was more emotional than him and Bella was the perfect fit for his brother. It would be a shame indeed if she'd disappear again.

~o.O.o~

Bella woke up in a very soft and fluffy bed which was very disorientating because hadn't she fallen asleep on the plane? She felt around her and felt Kol's familiar form right next to her. "Oh, good," she let out a breath as she rolled into him and looked at him, he was wide awake and looking back at her. "Hello."

"You were out for a whole day," he scolded her as he pushed her hair out of her face. "Three days after the Cullen House… another couple of days after the first trip there… Bella, what if dealing with the Volturi makes you sleep forever?"

She softly kissed him. "You worry too much."

"I should," he replied sharply. "You're mine and I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Liar."

Bella sighed as she gently caressed his cheek. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want you to be afraid or anxious about anything. But I know one thing for sure. You're immortal and so am I. Even if something would happen, I will find my way back to you. That's a promise."

"And I'll keep looking for you if you do."

She kissed him tenderly after she'd felt him somewhat calm down. "Now, where are we?"

Kol let out a sigh. "We're in our home in Rome, so we can _all_ recharge and have a little break."

"Is there a bathroom attached to this room?" Bella asked cheekily.

"Yes?"

"Let's have some fun, you and I," she smiled at him as she pulled him off the bed with her and started to strip. "Come."

~o.O.o~

The decision was to spend some time in Rome, making friendly with some local witches from covens Kol had met prior and for Bella to relax. She didn't like Rome much, even with all of her growth in her abilities, it was difficult to tune out the roaming spirits of such an ancient city. She could have used the little angel statue that Myriam had given her on their first trip out of New Orleans but she didn't want that, she needed to be sharp and in control, and the angel statue was just making things easier.

Normal.

Oh, how Bella wished to be normal. She had resigned herself to be the _freak_ , the one who spoke to spirits and listened to their stories, and she couldn't wait to try to do something without her gifts, like writing or cooking. Bella was excited for that, her whole being buzzed with the anticipation of having a regular life, with her boyfriend, and no spirits involved. Only when she wanted to. Even if that meant carrying that angel statue everywhere she went.

She loved talking to the spirits and tell their stories and had believed she had to keep on doing that forever, Bella never had a way to make it stop, if only temporarily and with help from Kol and his family - her family - it could stop.

But it didn't mean that she was going to sightsee in Rome. The house was remarkably quiet, but that was likely because Myriam had protected it a little for her. It allowed her to think, to put things on paper and update her blog - without revealing where she was. Just that she was traveling and that it was going to help her put things in perspective. The last year had been insane, surely her followers would understand if there'd be a change? She would still tell stories, just only on her website and not with all the equipment and youtube. No.

Even now, her inbox was pinging like crazy as she was sitting on her laptop and she was afraid to open twitter. She'd been an idiot for broadcasting her abilities in the first place.

Sighing, she closed her laptop and walked out of the library and went to find Kol. When she couldn't find him, she joined Myriam and Klaus in his little study. "Kol's making nice with the witches," Myriam smiled at her. "Just because they said they'd help, doesn't mean he doesn't have to make an effort. Jeremy tagged along with him."

"I just want to get this over with," Bella replied softly as she pulled her legs up and rested her head on her knees. "I've already put you guys through enough and I…"

"Nonsense," Klaus replied as he put down his paintbrush. "Elijah and I have been wanting to go after the Volturi for a long time, but since they weren't interested in us vampires, we let it go. Now that they actually want you, our latest member of our family, we will actually act upon our initial idea. Finding out that their palace might be well guarded was a surprise to us and you're just going to have to be a little bit more patient for a few more days so that we are certain we have all the help we can get, and have more knowledge of what's to come."

"We want to do this right, Bella, and not everything should fall onto you," Myriam smiled at her as she gently rubbed her back. "There are plenty of former members of the Volturi who know what the inside looks like, and Elijah's tracking them down for information. He has been for the last few days. Rebekah has been shopping and complaining that she wanted to do that with you."

"I'm not going out," Bella shook her head. "This city is Ancient!"

"So is Volterra. It's best if you get overwhelmed _now_ then when we are in Volterra."

Bella let out a breath and nodded. She knew Myriam was right and she had experienced a lot of spirits around her before, New Orleans was crawling with them, but Rome? "Fine, but I want Kol and Jeremy with me when I go outside."

"Why are you so scared?" Myriam asked kindly as Klaus left the room. "I don't know you any better than you'd dive into spirits head first, no matter how crowded the city might be."

"I just want to be my best when we head to Volterra, that's all," Bella sighed. "I don't know, I just feel this big sense of dread whenever I think about going after the Volturi."

Myriam smiled then. "It's good to be anxious about going to battle, but don't let the fear overtake you. You're not alone, Bella, you've got us standing right beside you. I'm sure that setting foot in Rome will be alright for you. Nothing's changed, has there? Perhaps you're picking up on Kol's anxiety just a little bit?"

Bella let out a breath. Myriam was making sense. Of course she was.

"Rome is an amazing city and I'm sure that Kol would love to show you around," Myriam smiled as she shot him a quick message on the phone. "So, freshen yourself up and get ready, because he'll be home in a bit," Myriam pulled Bella to her feet and gently pushed her towards her and Kol's bedroom. "Get some Gelato on me."

"Ready?" Kol smiled at her as he opened the door out of the house and into the busy street. "Rome is a lot of fun, and Jer and I found this great little restaurant where we can have something to eat. Kinda reminiscent of that little restaurant we went to in New Orleans with him."

"Oh, the one with _Candi_?" Bella replied playfully as she looped her arm through Kol's and took a deep breath before nodding. "Let's do this." Oh, she had closed herself off as well as she could with the full intention of enjoying herself. She'd never been to Italy before but had always planned on road tripping around Europe and go to haunted places to tell the stories of the spirits in other countries.

However, maybe in the future. For now, she was done with it. She wanted to be normal. Ish. But still needed to figure out what she was going to do after they had taken care of the Volturi. Writing books about the stories she'd accumulated over the years sounded great, but that was also doing things for the spirits.

"What are you thinking about?" Kol asked as they were walking down the street.

"About what we've discussed before," Bella replied with a sigh. "Finding a new passion for after we're done with the Volturi."

"And?"

Bella shrugged. "Writing is fun, but I suppose that would mean that I was going to make money off of the backs of dead people. Cooking is fun, too, but I'd never be able to make restaurant quality food. Technically I'm useless in other departments."

"Then don't. We'll just travel the world for a very long time and have fun," Kol smiled at her. "Have a lot of sex in the wildest places…"

"Dude," Jeremy sighed. "Seriously?"

"Well you don't have to be involved, Jeremy," Kol rolled his eyes at him before looking back at Bella. "And perhaps, during our travels, you find something else you'd like to do. If it were up to me, you would just enjoy life. Do whatever. You don't have to find anything to pass your time with. No pressure, darling."

Bella sighed as she nodded and looked around. They were near the Trevi fountain that Kol wanted her to see and experience. He told her how ordinary humans thought it'd bring them luck or vertility or eternal love. "I just want to be productive."

"We can be productive all day in bed," Kol grinned.

She laughed as she elbowed him in his side. "Fine. I'll worship you and your gorgeous body every day for as long as I shall live."

"Which is like forever."

"Yep," she nodded. Bella was feeling a bit better, mostly because Kol had managed to make his emotions about puppies and rainbows, just like Jeremy and she felt she could relax a little. Myriam had been right, Rome wasn't any different from New Orleans, just some of the spirits were older and Bella had formed a little white light bubble around herself to keep them away. She was off-duty. "So show me Rome," she smiled at him. "And when we tire of Jeremy you can show me parts of Rome that you want to keep away from him."

"Hey!" Jeremy let out a whine. "You wanted me with!"

"I did," Bella nodded as she looped her free arm through his. "You're the only two I fully trust with who I am and what I am. And I want us to have some fun together. And then I want some Rome-alone time with my boyfriend."

* * *

Want more of Myriam and the vampires? Check out our solo projects! Meekobb is posting her story Laissez les bon temps rouler on a regular basis and BuggyFiction is posting Lagniappe on a regular basis as well!


	33. Chapter 32

They found themselves standing at the bottom of a hill that had a village on it surrounded by some witches and vampires that were loyal to Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus. According to some of the witches, all who lived in Volterra was part of the Volturi cult.

The plan was for the vampires and half the witches to tear through the village while the Mikaelsons and Jeremy made their way up with the other half of the witches. It was easier said than done. "How about you go 'poof' and get up there and wait for us for you to turn back?" Kol suggested. "That's the only way I know to keep you safe, we don't know what's coming."

She eyed him for a moment and nodded before she forced herself to become energy and headed straight up. The village itself was so beautiful, and it was difficult to understand that the inhabitants of the village, and the castle, were a great evil.

But were they, really? Hitler was a great evil. So were many other dictators. A bunch of people wanting to find immortality without turning into a vampire? Not really? All they wanted was her and Bella wasn't even human. But then again, they were harming spirits and perhaps normal people. They wanted to harm Bella and to hurt someone was morally wrong.

It would have been easier to hand herself in. But, she also knew that her new family wouldn't stop at anything to get her back and likely massacre the village anyway. Bella was lucky. Very lucky.

But the lingering anxiety she had about all of this, still lingered and nagged her. Kol had been extremely anxious as well; what if she wouldn't return from this? What if after they had defeated the Volturi - which was just as important to the Mikaelsons as to her, what if she didn't return?

When she saw Kol come to the castle followed by everyone else, she shook the feelings off and made herself corporeal again, causing everyone to shield their eyes as she tried to contain herself again. "Sorry, sorry…" she muttered. "Haven't mastered that yet…"

"Don't worry, darling, your light is very beautiful," Kol assured her as he kissed her after she had pulled herself back together. "Did you get anything we need to be aware of?"

She pointed at the castle. "About that? No, it's like it's shielded or warded. I won't know what I can do about it until I actually get inside."

"Maybe it's not a good thing if you're going inside with us at this moment," Klaus suggested. "We know that they want you and will do everything in their power to get you. Allow us to go in first, do some damage and then you can come inside."

"She's not safe out here, Nik!"

"Then you and Jeremy stay with her," he told his brother. "Unless you want to forgo on her safety and have us all barge in something we don't know the situation of."

"I think that's not your decision to make," Kol said as he looked at Bella. "What do you think?"

"I'll be fine," Bella nodded. "If there's danger, I'll poof out or you know, try to jump into someone."

Kol sighed. "I had hoped you'd be wise and stay outside with me and Jeremy."

"Then you shouldn't have given me a choice," she said smugly as she stuck out her tongue to him. "Let's do this," Bella replied before walking past the vampires and opened the door. Oh, she was shitting herself. But, she couldn't allow herself to be scared. Fresh haunting, fresh feelings. Fresh everything. Although this building wasn't likely to be haunted, it still worked the same. Fearless.

She took a step back as she looked into the hall that was likely leading to some kind of reception area and shook her head. "Nope, you guys can go first, I'll wait," she said as she took another step back. "Have fun getting groped."

"Come on," Jeremy snickered as he put an arm around Bella. "You're the ghostbuster here."

Bella scowled and kicked him in the shins before shrugging him off and taking a step forward. She placed her hands on the doorpost and sent enough energy through the walls to get rid of the bad energy in the hallway.

'What the hell are you doing?!'

Bella jumped back when Valerie appeared before her. "What do you think I'm doing?" Bella was relieved though that Valerie was looking slightly better. Now only back in shackles, and not all wrapped up.

'You can't be here, they'll get you!'

"No, they won't," Bella replied as she set foot inside. "We're here to help you."

'I can't be helped, Bella, just leave.'

"And we have another reason to be here. So, are you going to stand in our way or are you going to be helpful?"

"Darling? Who are you talking to?"

"Val. Don't worry, not listening to her, let's go," she said as she took another step inside before the vampires rushed ahead, leaving her with Kol and Jeremy by her side and the witches moved in as well.

"It's not too late to back out," Kol said as he took her hand and put the leash through her belt loop.

"What?" Bella looked at the offending thing and then at Kol. "What?"

He then smiled at her. "I feel a lot safer with you tethered to me. We know absolutely nothing what we can run into."

"No, and that's exactly why this is a bad idea," Bella said as she tugged on the chord. "What if you're in a fight? Or get flung across a hallway? It's fine when we're in buildings with just ghosts. We don't know what we're up against here." She tugged on the chord again. "This is a hazard."

"But you're immortal, darling," he smiled at her. "You'll just end up a little bruised."

"Kol."

"No."

"Jeremy?"

"He's right, considering everything, you're safest when we know you're close and not able to go anywhere."

Bella sighed and gave up. Some fighting and cries of pain could already be heard coming from the area after the hallway they were in and Kol was tense. She didn't like it when he was tense. Looping her arm through his, she allowed him to guide her into the building. She didn't like the feeling she was getting from the building, it was almost as if there was a noose around her neck and tightening with each step she did.

The first area wasn't just a reception area, it looked as if there were multiple corridors or areas behind the doors in the circle that they were in now, bodies lying all around them. The walls were made of thick stone and the doors looked as if the only one who could open them had to be really strong. There was a small desk area in the middle where likely the bodies were working at before and Myriam was sitting on top of the desk, giggling like a lunatic with a bewildered look on her face. "More please!" she said as she excitedly clapped her hands. "Where do we go next?"

After a not so long discussion, Elijah decided that it was wise to split up. He and Rebekah would go through one door with a witch, Myriam and Klaus would take another with some witches and Kol, Bella and Jeremy would take another door. If uneventful, they'd come back to this area and choose another door not chosen.

Bella thought that this would be the worst idea ever. The castle was enormous and who knew what they would find? There was no way that everyone would come back unharmed, they didn't know what they were up against and all of a sudden she thought this was an incredibly bad idea.

So far, the castle wasn't worse than the Cullen House, although that was a disorganized mess and deliberately made so to make sure that either the secret Volturi lair wouldn't be found or out of revenge. But she couldn't say what was behind all the doors. If the Volturi were a cult, with witches and ghosts in their possession, then surely they'd have them as a security system.

No, Bella hated this place because she couldn't get _anything_. It was as if the place was void of energy. Even in their bubble in Kol's apartment in New Orleans, she could still feel at least the energy of the building, the energy that the both of them left. Much like breadcrumbs. A linger. It was even difficult to keep the shallow connections to Kol and Jeremy like she usually had, she still felt them slightly, but that was likely because Kol was a vampire and Jeremy supernatural himself.

It felt as if she was in a sensory deprivation tank, without the salt water and the darkness, but alone. Cut off. No room for distractions. No room for error. She wasn't physically blind, but she felt that way. Bella wasn't even sure if she could use her energy to do things and she didn't dare to try at this point. The cleansing of the hallway earlier had been done from the outside.

They watched everyone go through their assigned door and when Kol opened theirs, Bella wasn't sure what to make of it. A long corridor with more rooms. Barely to no light on the walls and no visible windows. How could there be? The corridor was leading further into the castle and they weren't anywhere near the outside walls.

"What are you getting?" Jeremy asked her as she stood frozen in the doorway.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you getting anything?"

"No."

"Well then," Bella said as she took Kol's hand and pulled him along with her.

"But you should be getting at least something, Bella, you're different than I am."

"Yeah well… guess they found a way to block everything," she let out a breath as they stopped at the first door. "I don't even know what we're looking for."

"People to kill," Kol reminded her as he kicked in the door and found the room empty. The next room was empty too, and the next, and every other door they opened along the way. It was only the slightest feeling that made Bella stop and turn around to the room she felt it coming from. She opened her bag and took the EMF meter out of it and it was going off like crazy. In the hallway itself it became quiet and in the room it went nuts again. Kol watched her as she had a confused look on her face before she put the meter back in her bag. "What?"

"What if these rooms are like holding cells? For spirits?"

"Are you saying you're not seeing anything?"

"I could try a little harder," Bella said bravely as she rolled her shoulders and neck and closed her eyes as she used a bit of her energy to reach out further. It was difficult, because it still felt as if she was getting choked, and this time also experiencing the feeling of a heavy blanket weighing her down. She wasn't going to say anything to Kol or Jeremy, because they were here for a reason. She was going to soldier on.

When Bella opened her eyes, she saw a young girl in shackles stuck to the wall. Subdued. Cocking her head, Bella approached the girl for a moment but then fell back when the girl started to scream at her for no reason and Bella could feel her fear, her anger and her insanity.

"Bella?"

"I'm fine," she muttered as she walked to another room and did the same, this time encountering a male spirit in shackles, much in the same position. But instead of approaching him, she used more of her energy to reach out to him as not to startle him like she had with the girl. "These rooms are prisons. They're using these souls as fuel for their spells or they have several Voodoo Priests and Priestesses… or both."

"There's nothing you can do about it now," Kol said as he reeled her back in by tugging on the chord. "Let's head back out, it looks like this is a dead end."

"But-"

"No. Maybe you can help them later, but not now."

"But, these guys give others power, Kol. Isn't that what you do when it's war? Take out their resources? Sources of power?"

"Well, yes, but let's save your energy for now, huh?" he then looked at the witches who had joined them. "Can anyone of you move these spirits on without too much hassle?"

Selene shrugged. "I'd have to try. But I can't move on what I can't feel. If they're put here by a shaman or voodoo practitioner we're screwed. Our best chance is Bella."

"And you're both right," Jeremy said as he leaned against one of the walls. "We don't want them to have more power or have a source to draw from, but we don't want you to drain yourself, either, Bella."

"I'll be fine, this is peanuts," she lied with a huff as she estimated the length of the corridor and found the middle. She imagined a part of her being this bright light and moved it from room to room, cleansing the area before returning that light back into herself. Peeking into the room with the screaming girl, she was satisfied with her job and it required not a lot of energy. "Okay, done."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," she smiled at her boyfriend as she looped her arm back through his. "Let's go for another."

Kol looked at Selene. "Can you seal this corridor off?"

"That I can do," Selene nodded with a big smile on her face.

"Oh good, you're not useless then," Kol bit at her.

"Hey!" Bella smacked him on his arm. "Be nice. She doesn't have to be here, but she is. Be nice. Now apologize."

"That's alright, Bella," Selene said as she followed the group out. "I'm only here to help you. His insults don't faze me, although you wouldn't mind if he'd grow a tail, would you?"

Bella let out a snort. "Sorry, I would."

"A bigger penis?"

Bella was quiet for a moment as she looked at Kol who had a fearful look on his face. "Nah, he's big as is. You'll leave him alone, please."

"Shame," Selene sighed as she closed the door and started to magically seal the door as Bella, Kol and Jeremy headed to another door, but before they could open it, they could hear Rebekah curse up a storm as she and Elijah ran out of the corridor and slammed the door shut.

"Do not go in there!" Rebekah said angrily as she made sure the door was shut. "I don't know what the bloody hell that was, but it was almost as if our worst nightmares came through and we didn't even realize it!"

"I don't know how, but they were inside our minds," Elijah replied, obviously shaken by the whole ordeal as he took his handkerchief and started cleaning his still clean hands. "It was almost similar to Mother's treatment, just more crude and we were aware."

"Let me see," Bella said as she walked to the just closed door and Kol had no other option but to follow her up until a certain point.

"No," Kol said as he looked at his siblings and pulled Bella back. He was surprised that she had meant that. "If they believe it was that bad, I'm not going to set foot in that."

"I want to see what they've used," Bella pouted as she tugged on her chord.

"No," he said again and pulled her with him to the door they were about to open for themselves. "Evil corridor, we're staying away from it, especially because nothing scares Elijah that much."

"But-"

"They didn't find the inner sanctum, let's move on," he said as he opened the door and practically pushed Bella in. The whole corridor was filled with light and mirrors and again, Bella couldn't see anything, but she could feel that this was very very bad. Whatever was here was friendly to the cultists, not so much to anyone who had not been introduced by them. She wasn't even sure if she could protect Kol and Jeremy at this point.

"Maybe I should go in here alone," she suggested.

"Not a chance," Kol bit at her. "Let's do this, I can fight them off."

"At what cost?" Jeremy said as he eyed the vampire. "You know what happened at the Cullen House, and this might get worse."

"I'll be fine, Jeremy," Kol said angrily as he pointed into the corridor. "Let's go explore and kill some."

Bella looked at Jeremy and she was glad that he didn't have any weapons on him that could kill Kol. She had Kol's dagger in her sock but hoped that it would stay there, and that the vervain in her pocket would be enough to protect herself. But Jeremy had a murderous look on his face. It was a good thing she hadn't told anyone she was bringing a dagger with her.

This was a very very bad idea, and there was no way that Kol would allow her to use more of her energy to make sure this corridor wasn't haunted, that, if there were portals, the portals would be closed and reduce the risk of him being taken over. Or maybe Jeremy even. Both men were a danger at this point.

Going to Volterra to end the Volturi had been a bad bad idea.

She could feed Kol her blood, which would make it possible for him to see things, or perhaps not since she was being blocked as well, and it would make sure he wouldn't drain himself too much. But he'd refuse, and Jeremy was so high strung that Bella wasn't sure that the hunter could behave himself.

Letting out a breath, she closed her eyes for a moment and deepened the connection she had with both of them and tried to calm them down before starting to walk, concentrating mostly on Kol's inner turmoil at this point.

"Bella, whatever you're doing, you need to stop. You're going to wear yourself out," Kol said as he took her hand again. "We'll be fine."

"And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. So that we will be," she assured him as the noose around her neck tightened even further, her heart was being squeezed and it felt like she was being touched all over her body. It felt as if she was wading through a mass of dead people, no room to walk or bumping into them all the time, and this was strange.

The Volturi were supposed to be humans. Mortals. Perhaps some witches on staff, but this? This was insane and she wasn't sure if their information had been complete. She tried reaching out to a spirit and it took her a lot more energy than she had wanted, but she received her answer. This corridor was new. The spirits had been put here right after the corridor had been built. The Volturi knew they'd come for them.

They were halfway through the corridor and Bella could see an elevator in the back, which was great because that meant they could go somewhere else, but before she could say anything, she found herself pinned against the wall and looking up at a very hungry vampire. Kol was still Kol, which was a plus, but he was very hungry.

"Shh," she said softly as she reached up to his head with her hand and tugged on his hair a little. "It's okay, take as much as you need."

"I don't-"

"It's okay," she smiled up at him, using her energy to make him feel her trust. "Take as much as you need," Bella said again but before Kol could even take a bite out of her, Jeremy had grabbed him, unhooked the leash and had thrown Kol across the corridor. His whole stance had changed and Bella knew that this was going to get painful.

" _She_ needs to remain alive!" Not-Jeremy said as he advanced on Kol. "You, however, you're merely cannon fodder and we'll get rid of you."

Kol had gotten back to his feet. "Bring it, mate," he said as once again his vampire face bled out. "I'd rather drink from her than you, but whatever it takes."

This wasn't going to end well.

Bella took a deep breath. "Myriam!" she called for her best friend. "I could use a little help here!"


	34. Chapter 33

Maybe it hadn't been the best ideas to call for Myriam. After all, Myriam was a vampire as well, but Jeremy was possessed and Myriam was a voodoo priestess and her cleanses worked. Bella hoped that Myriam would remain sane enough to pull both Kol and Jeremy out of there and cleanse Jeremy from whoever had taken him over. However, if Myriam wouldn't be able to be herself in this corridor either, it'd mean that it was likely that Bella was going to have to do something about this corridor; despite Kol's wishes to preserve her energy.

"Ohh," Myriam giggled as she stood in the doorway, observing the fight that was going on between Jeremy and Kol. "That looks like fun!"

"What's wrong with you?" Bella said as she ducked trying to get past her boyfriend and friend. Myriam looked barely dressed, bloodied and in a very good mood. Blood drunk. "What did you do?"

"Oh, our corridor had some yummy witches, and some witches that were being kept prisoner… even your friend Linda. We had a snack," Myriam shrugged as she thumbed behind her. "Selene is checking her over, we kept her alive. She said that she was taken on her way back from the Cullen House and brought here. We fed, we had some more… and well… before you yelled for help… Klaus and I…"

"I don't want to hear it," Bella sighed, Myriam drunk on blood meant she was horny as fuck. Bella pointed at Kol and Jeremy. "Hungry vampire and possessed hunter."

"Well, I can do something about the hungry vampire but I haven't got anything with me to cleanse a hunter, so good luck," Myriam said as she took hold of Kol and dragged him outside, leaving Bella alone with the possessed hunter, but it appeared that whoever was inside of him didn't want to hurt her.

Bella turned around to face Jeremy. "Don't hurt him, whoever you are, don't hurt him."

"I won't. I merely want to make sure nothing will hurt you, do you have any idea for how long we've been searching for you?"

"Yeah, I have an idea," Bella nodded. "However, we'll talk later, I need to check up on my friends."

"That's not necessary, you can talk to me," not-Jeremy said and with a wave of his hand, the door closed before her face. "You're likely wondering what Linda is doing here."

"Not really," Bella sighed as she turned to face him again. "She's a witch. She saw what I was and that was more information for your masters because there's no doubt that your masters were watching that shit storm." She tried to use her energy to push the energy out of Jeremy but she couldn't. She had to try harder.

"Perhaps," not-Jeremy smirked. "But not because of you, no, they wanted to make sure that the Volturi secrets didn't surface, and for that, they owe you."

Bella huffed. "You know what we came here to do."

"And you and your abominations will fail," the response was before he pointed towards the elevator. "Allow me to guide you to our inner sanctum, the holiest of places."

"Not without my friends," Bella said as she tried to open the door. "Let them through."

"You don't need them," not-Jeremy huffed.

"Yeah, I do," Bella finally found a way to break through the suffocation and the tight blanket around her to put her hands on the wall and shattering all the mirrors on that side with her energy, including removing some of the portals and wards underneath them. Not-Jeremy was weakening so she did it for the other side as well.

The amount of energy she was using was exhausting her, but it was necessary. "Get the fuck out of my friend," she said as she walked towards him. "Now, or I will rip you out and tear your fucking soul apart," She put her hand on not-Jeremy's arm and started to draw some energy from him to weaken him slightly so she'd be able to get rid of the spirit possessing him.

"How does it feel to get drained, little girl?"

Bella narrowed her eyes at him and took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she envisioned ripping the soul out of Jeremy and was surprised that she'd been able to. She then blew it up and the door back to the reception area opened as she fell into Jeremy. "Woah, headrush," she let out a breath as she looked up at him. "You okay?"

"Don't worry about me," he said as he helped her out of the corridor. "But I do think you made it safe for vampires to get through there now… and then some. Whoever was inside of me was scared of you."

"And fucking strong," she muttered as they walked out the door. The reason why she'd been able to do the Cullen House was because she'd been able to rest up, somewhat - despite Alice hijacking her for some fun. It was a luxury she couldn't have right now. Seeing the worried looks on the faces of her vampires, and their friend Linda, Bella straightened herself up and smiled. "Linda! Are you okay?"

"Of course, Bella, thanks to your friends, although I must say, I wasn't treated badly. They merely wanted information out of me," Linda smiled at her. "Are you alright?"

"Yep," she smiled at her before checking up on Kol, who had a relieved look on his face.

"Bella, I'm sorry, I-"

"It's alright, you didn't hurt me. And it seems that the spirits here don't want that to happen either," she sighed as she walked into his arms and closed her eyes for just one moment. "That piece of shit in Jeremy was a tough cookie," she finally said before looking up at him. "Are you okay now? Jeremy thinks I made that corridor vampire friendly now."

"She destroyed half the amount of mirrors and the anchors and portals attached to them," Jeremy replied. "I mean, I felt a lot better once she kicked the unwanted visitor out and the things were down."

"Their large congregation place is through the corridor you just exited," Linda nodded. "There's an elevator there that will take you down to the basement of this castle and it's a wide open space for their meetings and rituals."

"Have you been there?" Klaus demanded.

"Of course, many times," Linda replied as a matter of factly. "They liked to interrogate me there instead of in the cell you found me in."

"And what did you tell them?"

"Well, everything, of course. But also that she wouldn't be stupid enough to actually come here," Linda said to Klaus without any fear whatsoever as she walked towards the corridor Bella had just come out of. "I do know that they changed this entire building after they learned from me what I knew. The renovations were loud and painful," Linda said to Bella. "My apologies for that."

"That's alright, Linda," Bella smiled at her. "I'm not mad."

"Well, I am!" Myriam growled. "How dare she give up your secrets!"

"She's a mortal witch!" Bella said as she took Kol's hand and pulled him along with her as she headed to the corridor, she wanted this to be over with. "She likely doesn't have the strength and endurance like you have," she then let out a breath. "Are you coming?"

"This place is like a house of horrors," Rebekah muttered underneath her breath. "And of course Nik and Myriam got the good bits."

"Those witches were innocent, like me, but I'm sure that they will be properly punished whenever they do move on," Linda told herself as she walked into the corridor with a slight nod. "The energy in here has definitely changed, it has a more positive vibe to it now. No spirits," she said as she stepped over the shards of the broken mirrors. "No oppression, just how much energy did you spend?"

"I'm fine," Bella replied as she tried to give Jeremy some of the energy back that she'd taken from him when she tried to get rid of the spirit inside of him. At least it hadn't been Kol who had been taken over this time. They all rode the elevator down and Linda apologized that they'd have to get through another corridor before taking stairs down. Bella could feel everyone in their party tense up apart from Jeremy and Linda, and she didn't like that feeling. "What's wrong?"

"We can't move," Myriam grunted as she kept trying to move but to no avail.

Linda hummed as she put her hand on the wooden wall and gently caressed it as she continued to walk, away from the vampires. "This wood is ancient. The teachings of the Volturi say that this particular kind of wood can bring down the ancient vampires that roam this Earth. For good. They had it spelled so that no vampire can enter the inner sanctum. I likely should have mentioned that before I took you down with the elevator."

"Ancient wood?" Klaus said panicked. "What is it made out of?"

"Oh," Linda said lightly and seemed to think for a moment. "I think something with Oak? White Oak? Yeah, that was it," she nodded. "They mixed one of those trees with other trees to make enough wood for this corridor and act as a conduit for magic. Unfortunately, I'm unable to lift the spell, the magic is ancient."

"You were never a prisoner, were you?" Elijah said with his voice level.

"No," Linda shook her head. "Sorry."

"What the hell!" Myriam growled. "Being all this lovely dovey with Bella at the Cullen House was all an act?"

"Not really," Linda replied with a shrug. "I was asked to come on that show because I do have my own reputation, and I thought it would be a boring job but when I found out it was the Cullen House? I wanted to make sure that the inner sanctum of theirs wouldn't be found, just like the Cullens wanted as Edward didn't deserve it. And well, I've been following Bella for a while now. I had my suspicions of what she was, but I never believed she was what we'd been searching for all this time. So to see her work, was a bonus."

Fear. Panic. Bella knew she had to do something. This corridor could kill her family, and she wasn't going to let it. She took a deep breath and tried to find all the energy that she could muster to deal with this. To free her friends, to make sure they were safe.

"I'm going to kill you," Jeremy said as he advanced on the witch, but she stopped him with his magic.

"Oh no, hunter, I have plans for you," she said as she performed a small spell to have him taken over by a spirit yet again and kicked against a wooden panel to hand him a stake. "You know what to do, Vincente," she said as she watched the boy walk towards the frozen vampires. "Come, Bella, it's time I introduce you to your destiny."

"No," she said as she tried to stop not-Jeremy2 but he was strong and Bella couldn't stop him, not physically and not with her energy. She knew that she had to work fast and the elevator doors were still open. "This is going to hurt," she said softly as she looked at Kol and tried to draw energy from him, just a bit. And from Rebekah. Elijah. "Like… really going to hurt."

"Bella don't," Klaus, Kol and Myriam chorused before Bella took another deep breath and had her energy expand all around her, she took the floor and the walls and she pushed. She pushed hard and then pushed against her family and threw them into the elevator.

She hadn't expected Kol to hang onto her though, so when everything shattered around them, he got white oak shrapnel all over his body, shielding her from the wood. It was not-Jeremy2 then who drove the stake through his back, hitting his heart.

"No!" Bella cried out as she used her energy to send the hunter flying away from Kol and pulled on the stake as hard as she could, but it was already burning. "No!" she said as she held on to him, she didn't want to lose him! All she'd ever done was to make sure he would be safe and now with everyone watching, they were going to lose Kol. No, she wasn't going to let that happen.

Kol was fading quickly and her heart hurt.

Her pain, her grief and her love for Kol allowed her to push through the safeguards put in place and she allowed herself to be absorbed by Kol's body and started to push the energy away from them. The stake out of him, dousing the flames, the shrapnel out of his flesh. He started to feel better around her and that was a relief, but there was still a possessed hunter in the corridor and the Queen Bitch.

Kol wasn't up for fighting much and Bella either, but while she possessed him, and healed him, she turned to her family. "The corridor is safe now. Kill them all, get your revenge. Get mine."

"Bella?" Myriam said spooked as she looked at Kol. "What are you doing?"

"Saving him. I'll be with you in a moment, I promise."

Myriam nodded as she warily eyed Kol before joining Klaus on killing Linda. Elijah and Rebekah were after Jeremy, giving Bella some alone time with Kol as his body healed.

'Well this is strange,' Kol said weakly. 'What did you do to us?'

'I temporarily pulled us out of your body so we can talk,' she smiled at him as she touched his cheek. 'I'm saving you. You're not going to die.'

'But-'

'You're an idiot for holding on to me like you have when I wanted to make sure you were safe.'

'I didn't want you to get hurt.'

Bella softly kissed him and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. 'You and I both knew that I wouldn't be coming back from this. There was always hope, but I've expelled too much energy that I've become energy again. I can't go back.'

'No,' he said angrily as he grabbed her by the arms and shook her. 'No! You're not going to leave me! We had plans, Bella, you and I! And you're the first person who's made me feel so good in a very long time, not as if I'm broken! I love you, you can't leave me!'

'I can't go back, I'm sorry,' she whispered. 'I wish there'd be a different way but I prefer you alive. You're an immortal vampire, Kol. I'm sure that I'll be back one day, you'll just have to wait for me.'

'You reverse this right now! You don't deserve to die, Bella, not after the shitty life you've lead!'

'It became a lot less shitty after meeting you,' she softly kissed him again. 'You understood me and liked me for who I was and not what I could do. You made me aware of myself, taught me new things and…' she then chuckled as her tears kept flowing from her eyes. 'You never opened that package…'

'I wanted to do that after our return,' Kol scowled. 'You can't do this to me, Bella. You can't leave me.'

'I am saving you, Kol, I think that's a worthy sacrifice.'

He was quiet for a moment as he looked at her. 'What happened to you being an immortal, like Ylva said? You're energy, you're eternal. That's what she said.'

'And she's not wrong. I can't go back to being human because I'm severely abusing my power to do things with my energy. Ylva won't let me and I'm basically tipping the balance between life and death. I'm interfering and I believe out of all my iterations, this is the worst offense… aside from the time-travel Ylva had done, to spend time with you.'

'You're punishing yourself, you don't have to do this.'

'I don't want you dead,' she said again as she kissed him. 'I love you, Kol Mikaelson, and I will never stop loving you. Now, some time has passed since I brought you here, but I'm going to return you to your body now, it's healed and strong. You need to get everyone out and I will make sure this place will turn into rubble. But you need to get out.'

'Is this it?'

'I'm afraid it is…' she whispered as she caressed his cheek and kissed him again. 'Forgive me, my love, but I couldn't let you die.'

When Kol came back to his senses, he was sitting in a corner of the corridor that Bella had completely obliterated. Linda was torn apart and in pieces all over, and Jeremy was laying in the elevator with his neck snapped. It was a good thing he was wearing his ring, otherwise, they'd be in a world of hurt should Bella come back.

Bella.

He got to his feet and punched the wall. "Don't you ever think I'm going to forgive you for saving my life and erasing yourself from my life, Bella Swan!" he said as he ran towards the end of the corridor, down the stairs and found his family slaughtering everyone. He joined them to speed up the process and didn't even like it. He killed because the people needed to die, he needed to get rid of his aggression, his anger, his sadness, and it wasn't _fun_. "Right, so, Bella said we needed to get out. Now."

"Where is she?" Myriam asked as she looked at Kol. Not a scratch on him. That must have cost their friend dearly. "She didn't."

"Yeah, she did. Now let's get out," he said angrily as he pointed towards the stairs. "I'm pretty sure she'll save Gilbert from his possession too before she fucks off for good."

"We'll bring her back," Myriam said encouragingly as she rubbed his arm. "We will find a way to bring her back."

"I admire your confidence, but it's likely I'm going to have to wait another 1000 years before she comes back. Not knowing who I am. I'll have forgotten about her as well like I had with Ylva. She's gone. People leave, we move on. That's what we do."

"Yeah, we're not going to do that," she said as she looped her arm through his. "Come on, let's do as we were told."

Bella just stood there, observing her family and her heart broke even further. 'I didn't want to do this to him,' she whispered. 'I broke him.'

'He'll be fine,' Ylva replied as she stood next to her. 'But your light is dim, you can't continue like this. You can't sustain your human form.'

'I know, but…'

'He'll be fine. And if not, Klaus will put him safely in his box.'

'No! Ylva!'

'Let's free Valerie and then blow this shithole to pieces,' she said as she walked off to the holding cells at the back of the area. For an old lady she was suddenly moving quite well, without a walking stick and as if she was young again. Ylva released all the spirits that were kept in cells to fuel the Volturi's power.

'Bella! What did you do!' Valerie ran towards her and checked her over. 'Are you absolutely insane?'

'Thank you, Bella, for destroying the Volturi with your family and for finding me so I can get my eternal peace,' Bella said angrily as she balled her fist. Anger was better than sadness at this point.

'I deserve that,' she said quietly. 'I'm sorry. And I've been deceitful, they made me. My name isn't Valerie.'

'I know,' Bella said as she looked at the spirit. 'You're Freya Mikaelson, the child that supposedly died of consumption but was taken by Dahlia as a punishment for your mother.'

'You knew?'

'I had my suspicions,' Bella shrugged. 'Go in peace, Freya. You deserve peace and no more suffering.'

'Thank you, Bella and Ylva, you didn't have to free me.'

'It's what she wanted,' Ylva shrugged. 'Now go, we're going to blow this castle to smithereens.'

Kol heard some rumbling and then saw a bright light coming out of the ground before it expanded and expanded out of the castle and then it exploded into a million tiny pieces, leaving nothing but ash. While it was a spectacular sight, he felt alone again. Left behind. Empty.

And he needed to kill.

"Good luck with getting home, I'm going to have some more fun," he said as he started to walk off, but Klaus and Myriam stopped him. "Let me go."

"You're hurting, brother," Klaus said calmly. "Come home with us, I promise you, we will not stop looking for her and not stop to find a way back for her."

"There's no way back for her, Nik!' Kol snapped at him. "Only when the conditions are in our favor and, if the new version is worthy. If there's even going to be a new version! I'll never get Bella back! Ever! If that new version comes, she won't remember me. Nothing. Because Ylva won't allow that, as that happened with Bella. I lost her. There's no coming back from that. So, let me go, go home, I'm going to throw myself a big pity party."

"No," Myriam said softly as she pulled Kol into her arms and gently rubbed his back. "It's alright, Kol, we're going to miss her too," she whispered. She then could feel Kol's arms around her and felt his body starting to shake. "Let it all out, mon chou," she whispered. "It's okay to feel, to be sad and angry. Grieve."

"I hate her," he quietly sobbed. "I love her so much…"


	35. Chapter 34

FIFTY YEARS LATER

Izzy couldn't believe that her parents actually allowed her to go on this trip by herself. For the first time in her entire life, they didn't want to keep an eye on her, no helicopter parenting, no pressure, just herself. Granted, they had arranged for her to stay in one of the fanciest hotels in the French Quarter for her own safety, but other than that? She was on her own.

New Orleans just breathed culture, and as soon as Izzy had set foot on New Orleans soil, even if it was just at the airport, she could feel it in her bones. The excitement. The buzz. She took a taxi to her hotel to get her settled, but on her way there she saw something familiar, something she had been drawing over and over and over again over the past few years, and couldn't wait to go and explore what the hell that building was.

She quickly dumped her bag at the hotel, took her sketching pad with her and headed straight to the building after getting some directions on how to get there on foot. It was amazing to look at the gated home up close. She had all the details right, tiny details even. Izzy was spectacularly surprised by the cracks on the walls that were the same on her up close drawing.

Upon further inspection, the gates weren't actually locked, and it didn't look like anybody was home. Who cared about a little breaking and entering? She wanted to be sure that the courtyard was the same as she thought it was, too. What was this sorcery? How could she draw something so similar - no, the same - and how could it be real? Should she call her parents to inform them of the bad decision she was about to make?

No.

Taking a deep breath, Izzy leaned against the gates and slipped inside and was in awe of the courtyard. There were some white sheets over items, but the magnificence of the courtyard was awe-inspiring. And exactly as she'd imagined it to be. This was so strange. How?

"You're trespassing," a voice sounded and when Izzy looked around, she saw an older woman, likely in her 70's, standing on one of the landings. "This is my home."

"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am," Izzy apologized. "You have a very lovely home."

"I do indeed," the woman replied as she started to descend the stairs. "Now, what made you make this bad decision of trespassing in an old witch' home?"

Izzy shrugged. "I didn't know it was a witch' home, ma'am, but I'm from outta town and when I passed this building in the taxi, it was familiar to me," she said as she walked to the woman and showed her the drawings. "See?"

"May I?" the woman said after having looked at the drawing for a while and pointed at Izzy's sketchbook.

"Sure," she smiled as she handed it to her. "My name's Izzy, ma'am, Izzy Whitlock."

"Are you always this happy, Izzy?" the woman let out a chuckle as she shook her head. She then started to thumb through the sketchbook revealing drawings of people with familiar faces. Old faces. "You're a witch?"

Izzy shrugged then. "I am what I am, my parents don't really do labels, why?"

"No reason," the woman then handed the sketchbook back and looked closer to what the person in front of her looked like. "Hmm… Well, Izzy Whitlock, I can tell you that those people you drew used to live here, but vampires left New Orleans long ago."

"Vampires? Vampires aren't real."

"Oh, they are, just like witches," the old lady smiled a knowing smile. "But I tell you what, why won't you go to that little café around the corner and I'll see what I can do for you. I bet you'd like to meet one of those people you drew so beautifully."

"What? A vampire?"

The woman nodded as she started to push the girl out of her courtyard. "Have something to eat, something to drink and if I have any news, I'll bring it to you."

"You're not pulling my leg, are you ma'am? Making fun of me?"

"Oh no, this is a serious matter, young lady. I don't make light of serious situations like these."

Izzy was basically pushed out of the courtyard and back through the gates and went to the café the woman told her to go to but she couldn't help but feel she was in danger. Something didn't feel right. After ordering her coffee and something to eat, she took out her phone and called her mother. In cases like these, she probably should have called her father, but he'd go into defense mode and they'd be on the first plane to New Orleans to come and get her.

" _Hey! You made it!"_

"I did," Izzy smiled. "From what I've seen so far, New Orleans is amazing, I can't wait to go and explore things, draw things. Enjoy the food, just like you said."

" _What's wrong, bunny?"_

She let out a sigh. "I don't know, I usually go on holiday with you guys and now I'm alone…"

" _You're eighteen, it's time you do things on your own. Fly away, like the beautiful little bird that you are."_

"Mom!"

" _What?"_ Izzy's mother laughed. " _Are you worried something might happen to you?"_

"Well, you and dad did tell me that New Orleans wasn't the most clean place to be, lots of evil people, criminals…" Izzy sighed as she ran a hand through her blonde locks and smiled at the waitress when she brought her her drink and her food. "I drove past by a building on my way to the hotel."

" _Oh?"_

"It's the same building I've been drawing for years, mom, it's making me nervous! What's going on?"

" _This is a journey you need to take on your own, bunny. Your dad says that everything will work out fine."_

"But-"

" _Trust the journey, even though you don't yet understand it."_

Izzy rolled her eyes. She hated that quote. It was engraved in her skull. It was on a plaque in her room back home. "Fun."

" _We love you, bunny, have a great time in New Orleans."_

"So… you're not worried? Like… at all?" Izzy then stared at her phone when her mother hung up on her. Now wasn't the time for cryptic messages! She wanted to hear that everything was going to be alright and that she wasn't going to get slaughtered by a serial killer for trespassing in a building!

Izzy angrily took a sip of her coffee before attacking her sandwich while she looked at her sketchbook. Would her parents have known all along about the building being real? It used to drive Izzy nuts that she just had the urge to draw it like that. Or draw the faces. This was ridiculous. But then again, she felt a curiosity as well. It was an adventure. Her adventure.

And it now scared the ever living shit out of her.

There was another coffee. And another one, and when the other one came round, Izzy had enough. She was clearly being played and if it was her duty to find out more about the building, she'd have to go to the library. But for now, it was enough. She was going to explore the French Quarter and hoped that she could put it behind her. For now.

Enough was enough.

She paid for her food and coffees and got to her feet and was surprised to see someone sitting in the chair in front of her after she blinked. She stumbled back into her chair and looked at him in silence. Such a familiar face, but where did he come from?

"I hear you have drawings, let me see," he said as he took her sketchbook and looked through them. "Okay, so, you spent time in New Orleans and you saw these faces in some old newspapers. I'm clearly wasting my time."

Izzy huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest after pushing her hair out of her face. "I arrived in New Orleans only a few hours ago and for the last eighteen years I haven't left our farm in Texas, only to go on trips to Alaska and Illinois with my parents."

"So you're a witch," he stated.

"Labels. I don't think I am a witch, because I'm nothing like my mother. She's a witch. With magic. And stupid quotes. My dad refused to be called a witch, but he's a psychic knower. Me? I draw shit and they happen to be real and I never thought they'd be real," Izzy countered. "Can I have my sketchbook back?"

He flipped to the page where his face was on. "You drew me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I had to. With many of the drawings in there, I felt like I had to."

"But why?"

"I don't know!" Izzy shot at him before leaning over and grabbing her sketchbook. "Look, I thought that maybe I would find answers with that house or with you for why I would draw something like that, but if you're only going to waste my time, I best be on my way."

"Me wasting _your_ time? Well, that's rich," he huffed. "Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get here? To meet with you? I had to be granted access to the Quarter just to see you, because us vampires have left a long time ago."

"Vampire? You're not a vampire, the sun's out," she huffed as she got to her feet. "Are you going to help me, or not?"

The boy sighed. Izzy thought he was maybe her age, or slightly older? She wasn't sure. He looked sad and angry at the same time. Frustrated was perhaps a better word for it. "Yeah, I'll help you. Come on, Bella, let's go home."

"My name is Izzy, and I'm not going anywhere with you. I have a room at the hotel."

"Of course, why would things ever be easy?" he rolled his eyes at her and motioned for her to follow him. "Let's go to my home. You've already been there, Davina told me. Don't worry, the old bat cleared the house for us, she'll move back in once we're done… although… I could take you to my apartment… Yes. That's a better idea," he nodded as he turned a corner. "I still have it, you know. I couldn't get rid of it. Myriam wouldn't let me, despite all the memories that haunt that place. Your stuff is still there too."

"My… stuff?"

"Yeah, your clothes, your little trinkets… your laptop… although I doubt that survived the last five decades. But maybe it'll do you some good, to see your old apartment."

"You said it was yours."

"It was _ours_ , darling," Kol winked at her as he opened the door leading to a staircase. "Up you go."

Yep, this was definitely weird. This 'vampire' was insane and she was now in his house. Alone. With no way of defending herself or running away as he was walking behind her. Maybe she could find something in the apartment to defend herself with and run back out again. Yes. Okay. Surely apartments had knives? Heavy pots she could swing at his head?

As she stood in the middle of the room, there was a living room area to her right and a kitchen to her left. There was a loveseat and a couch and what looked like ancient controllers for a game box. She liked the kitchen, it was spacious and it looked like a great kitchen to cook in.

"Nothing?"

"Huh?"

"You're not getting anything?"

"Should I?"

The boy looked like a hopeful, overeager puppy now as he bounced around the house trying to find something, and then he happily returned with a wrapped gift. "You bought me this. I think it's time for me to unwrap it."

Izzy shrugged as she found something heavy and in arms reach to throw at him so she could run out again. This was getting stranger by the minute. She kept her eyes on the boy as he unwrapped the gift and blinked when she saw what it was. A sex thing. Straps. What the actual fuck? She grabbed the spoon jar and threw it at him before turning around and running down the stairs.

He let out a sigh as he watched her flee. "Well, that didn't exactly go as planned," he muttered as he looked into the box. "What the hell kind of dirty mind did you have my dear Bella?"

Izzy tried to open the door but found it locked. She tried to kick it open before realizing the door swung inwards and then rattled the doorknob some more. "Hey, asshole, are you going to let me out or what?"

Coming to the top of the steps, he had his hands in his pockets and a pout on his face. "I could. Tell me, Bells. Do you have a headache? I mean, since you came within these walls. Feel any different?"

"No," she said as she grabbed her phone. "And my name is Izzy, you moron," she said as she dialed 9-1-1. "I'm calling the cops."

He zipped down the steps and snatched the phone from her hands, turning it off and pocketing it. "I don't think so, dollface. Maybe I should take you to see my brother and sister-in-law," he muttered, narrowing his eyes on her. "Maybe Myriam knows what's wrong."

"What's wrong is that you're now holding my phone, and you've locked me inside your apartment with you. That's kidnapping. And if I don't call my parents in like… five minutes, they will call the cops to come and find me."

The guy rolled his eyes and started back up the steps with her phone, opening it to scroll down her contacts. "Your parents you say? Mom, obvious. Who's Jerk?" he asked as he opened a text message to start composing a message. "Dear Mom. This handsome asshole has me locked up in his apartment across from that house that I drew. Don't worry. I am fine. Love you… There, done. Didn't lie."

Izzy smirked then. "Do you honestly think I have my parents under 'mom' and 'jerk' in my phone? You're an idiot."

After a minute, a reply came back and he looked at it with a smile. He held it up for her to see. "The world is a lot smaller than you think Princess. You ever hear of someone named Jasper Whitlock?"

Izzy let out a frustrated sigh as she moved past her kidnapper and went back upstairs. "Jasper Whitlock, the fucking hero who married into a wealthy family to save us all. Whoo! We've got money! He still died and never consummated his marriage."

"True. He dodged a bullet with that crazy menacing midget," he shrugged, tossing her phone on the sofa. "But I've had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting them all once upon a time, and I'm sure that he has been watching over the rest of his family since he was freed."

Izzy huffed as she plopped herself in the loveseat. "Great story, you must have been watching that youtube vintage show with that medium called whatsherface."

He gave her a sad smile. "I was there for it. I filmed it."

She eyed him. "No, you weren't."

"Vampire, Darling. I thought we established that."

"And like I told your friend across the street, vampires aren't real."

"She's no friend," he frowned. "Witches and vampires only get along when it necessitates, such as allowing me passage into the Quarter."

"Fine, you were there, whatever. All of it looked like magic or mind fuckery to me anyway. My parents watched it and made me watch it with them," Izzy shrugged. "Ghosts? Really?"

He let out a sigh, running a hand over his face. Sadness, despair, and disappointment beginning to consume him. "What can I do to convince you of the reality around you? Of who you are, or at least your past life that you clearly have no memory of that I could kill your original for fucking you over."

"Is that what this is all about? I remind you of someone you used to know?"

"You don't just remind me. I've been searching and waiting. Why do you think your parents sent you to New Orleans? Why you've been drawing what you have? A part of you deep down is seeking out a truth that you don't know what it is."

"I don't know, that's why I'm here and all I'm hearing is stuff that just can't be real."

"Because you aren't letting yourself and if you let me into your mind to find Ylva, I can have a few choice words with the bloody bitch," he sneered, trying his hardest to keep his temper under control. "Although I should probably get something to eat first…"

"Yeah, you do that, and I'll go back to my hotel."

He walked away, waving his hand over his head. "Yep, you try that. This place is spelled. Get some rest while I'm out. I'll be back soon Bells."

"This place is dusty! And my name is Izzy!"

"So clean it! You certainly loved to nag me about that before!"

"I'm not your fucking slave."

He grumbled and shook his head. "No, you were going to be my wife," he mumbled to himself as he walked out the door.

When she was certain he was out the door, she grabbed her phone from the couch and dialed her father's number. Fine, no cops, but she was going to speak to the jerk who seemed to know everything. She was freaking out and this was not an adventure she'd signed up for.

" _Well if it isn't my adventurous young daughter on her own in New Orleans."_

"I need help," she said in a small voice.

" _Help? If I'm right, I believe you are in the safest place in New Orleans. What is the matter?"_

"I've been kidnapped by someone who claims to be a vampire and he thinks I'm someone else and I can't get out and he's being adamant that I'm someone I'm not and he's so sad, and I think he's going to kill me," she rambled as she anxiously paced the apartment.

Peter sighed and was quiet on the phone, as he thought about how to answer her. " _Take a deep breath, Iz. Go to the fridge and grab a bottle of water and take a sip. Like right now."_

"This place hasn't been cleaned for what looks like decades! If there's anything left in the fucking fridge then it's way past its sell-by date!"

" _Do it."_

Izzy grumbled as she stomped towards the fridge and opened it. Surprised to see that it was clean, working and everything had the dates on for this era. She opened one of the water bottles and blinked at the blood bags in the fridge. "Ew. Dad… there's… ew."

" _Yeah...vampires tend to need those…"_ he quietly responded.

She spat out her water then. "Vampires are real? You've been holding back on me?"

" _Not really holding back, but it was a feeling that you weren't ready to hear it until you began drawing those sketches and then it never was quite the right time."_

"I've been drawing them for years!" she blurted. "Driving me nuts! Dad, you need to get me out of here."

" _Isabelle. You wanted answers and you are in the only place where you can get them. Let me guess. He told you something about a past life, right? I'm sure he's upset about you not having some memories."_

"He calls me Bella and yes. It's like he expects me to be her or something, but I'm not."

Peter grumbled and whispered with Charlotte for a moment, asking a few questions and the name Jasper was dropped. " _That vampire and Bella had released one of our ancestors from some imprisonment. What little your mother has been able to find out is that he has some severe anger management issues."_

"She's the bitch from that youtube thing you guys tend to watch?" Izzy let out a dark chuckle. "Oh wow, this is gold, dad, great prank. Now, get me out of here. I'm done."

" _I can't. Things are set in motion by you choosing to go there. Once you are able to get free, you need to go find some of the local witches and ask what happened to the previous version of you, that Bella."_

"I'm… for fuck's sake. Reincarnation? Seriously? Great. Awesome. I'm totally not losing my mind," she said as she started to pace again. "You know what? I shouldn't have called. But do know that if I come home in a box it's not my fault."

" _Iz, stop with the drama. You're in a different world now. Let it happen."_

Izzy angrily threw her phone on the ground and stepped on it, breaking it on impact. She then took her bottle of water and sat back down in the love seat. So her future was to become a psychotic vampire's slave. So not cool.


	36. Chapter 35

Izzy could hear the door open and close downstairs and sighed as she heard the footsteps come back up. "So, how do you want me?"

"Hot and spicy, the way you always were," the vampire replied just as easily. "So you finally chilled the hell out or shall I call my very boring brother to come and tell you some story about some point in his life that sends the rest of us running and begging for our eternal deaths?"

She pointed at her broken phone on the floor. "Jerkface said some things, things you said too, and some other shit."

He nodded, not coming any closer. "I see," he commented. Without any other word, he took the package he opened, pausing a moment as he picked it up and took it over to one of the bedrooms and threw it in before slamming the door closed and leaned his head against it. "Are you going to stay here or you coming with me?"

She looked up at him. "Where will you be taking me?"

"I thought about going somewhere fun before the witches try to run me out of town. Maybe the Sanitorium," he emotionally shrugged. "Maybe those fuckers will drop another beam on my head."

Izzy sighed as she got to her feet and walked over to him. She was going to take a page out of her dad's book and try to help someone out. Even though the boy was her kidnapper, he was obviously struggling with things. "What's your name?"

He stood up and turned to look at her, considering answering. "I was hoping you'd remember."

She nodded. "Okay, fine. If this whole reincarnation thing is true, I probably should," she said empathically.

"Yeah, you should. Imagine my disappointment," he muttered. "Let's go. Just, when we get there, stay close. We don't have our golden retriever anymore."

"What happened?"

"He died two years ago."

Izzy frowned then. "That's one old golden retriever."

"He was the other guy from those videos you keep mocking," he glared at her. "And a good friend even if he did manage to nearly kill me twice."

"I'm sorry you lost your friend," she said as she followed him down the stairs. "It mustn't have been easy for you to deal with the loss of someone you've known for a very long time."

He sighed and ignored the comment, not wanting to acknowledge it but coming out the door to see his siblings home he raised an eyebrow. "When you're over a thousand years old, you lose a lot of good friends. Sometimes even family and lovers. People who never should have left, but sacrifices are made for the greater good. For the first time in a long time, I want to be selfish."

"Those other people I drew, they're your family?" Izzy asked and when he nodded, she nodded too. "And you're the youngest?"

"Hm, yes. Of the boys. I have a sister who is younger. Though one might consider my brother's mate to be emotionally on the same level on some days. Thankfully she has finally ditched her ridiculous pineapple headdress."

"I was an only child," Izzy said as she followed him. "I can't imagine what it'd be like with a big family, but I'm sure it mustn't have been easy for you."

The vampire glanced at her. "Every version of you that I had learned of was an only child and had a difficult life."

"I didn't have a difficult life," Izzy let out a snort. "My dad's a jerk, sure, but they love me. They're taking care of me. In fact, this is my first trip out on my own. I grew up on a farm with horses and cows and was homeschooled."

He stopped to look at her curious and confused, trying to figure out what was different. "I think something or someone interfered and placed you with them to avoid what happened with your past versions."

"I wouldn't know," she shrugged. "But I didn't have to want or need anything as it was given to me."

"My Bella had vague impressions, memories of her past that it took some time for us to realize what was going on, but you have none except those drawings. I think those little memories blocks, those houses that Ylva had been building in your mind are completely constructed now," he mused, more annoyed than anything as he started walking again.

Izzy pulled a little statue out of her pocket. "My parents tell me that this statue keeps me safe, always, it's something I was found with."

He turned to look at what she was talking about and his eyes grew large in recognition. Reaching to snatch it out of her hands, he blinked as he studied it. "Bloody fucking hell. Myriam will fall over dead to know you have this," he grinned as he looked at her, pulling her into him to kiss her cheek and moved to take his phone out to snap a picture to send his sister.

"This was yours?"

"My sister-in-law made this for you when we left to run from your dad who neither of us wanted to see. We were going towards Memphis and eventually found our way up to Chicago to the Cullen property," he explained while he waited for the phone to connect to his family. "Myriam!"

" _Where the hell have you been hanging around? You missed family dinner!"_

"I'm home. I finally found her, but she doesn't have a single fucking memory. I've been trying but nothing is working on digging a fucking thing up but she draws the family and she has your totem," he grinned like an excited schoolboy.

" _That thing could have been stolen in Italy and drawing the family is not real proof, Kol."_

He looked over at her with a smirk. "Can I take your picture darling? My sister doesn't believe me."

"I'm your fucking slave, you can do whatever," Izzy said as she snatched her totem back and put it back in her pocket, letting out a relieved sigh.

He quickly took the picture of her annoyed face and sent it to Myriam before getting back on the phone. "Her loveliness is on the way."

It didn't take long for an excited squeal to come out of the phone on the other end. " _We're coming to New Orleans!"_

"She doesn't know anyone, Crazy Pineapple Voodoo Bitch. Chill out. Give us some time to try it my way and then maybe your shock methods later," he winked at Izzy.

" _But… that's no fun. We've missed her too, Kol."_

"Oh, so that's your name. Kol Mikaelson."

Kol stared at her with his mouth open. "What did you say?" he asked, hanging up on his sister. He'd deal with that fall out later.

"Kol Mikaelson?" she said a bit unsure of herself. "I mean… that fits with your first name so if it's not the case… I'm sorry."

"I never told you my name. Did anyone tell you _anything_ of my family before coming here?" he demanded. "Did Davina?"

"No?"

"Then how did you know my last name? Myriam only said my first name."

"She did? I believed I heard her say both," Izzy shrugged as she pushed her hand in her pocket and clutched her totem. New Orleans was getting to her now.

He slowly shook his head. "Vampire memories are impeccable. A thousand years and I can recall the pain of my father killing me when I was created. So, I can recall a conversation thirty seconds ago when my name was or was not mentioned."

"Okay, fine, you win. Weren't you taking me somewhere?"

He looked at her, reconsidering now that he was aware of the possession of the totem. "I have a better idea. Come this way," he said as he went over to his family's home. Only before they entered, he turned to eye her. "Give me that totem. I want to see your reactions inside without that."

"If you lose it, I'll fucking kill you."

"Trust me, I'm the last person interested in losing something this important," he said sincerely as he leaned in her ear.

She sighed. She didn't want to but she was at his mercy, wasn't she? She couldn't run or call for help, and even though she was seriously freaked out by this, Izzy had to do it. Humor the crazy vampire. "I don't see why you need it, it's mine," she muttered as she handed him the angel statue, and now felt completely naked.

"You'd actually be surprised," he grumbled. "Come on now. It's safer to practice this in here than where I was looking to go originally."

"Practise? What?"

"Test," he grinned as he pushed her inside the courtyard.

Izzy blinked as she cocked her head. There were confusing things going on and she hadn't experienced those things when she first set foot in the courtyard and met the witch. "Fuck me," she muttered. "Jerk was right all along, I'm like completely open," she added as she started to walk around, looking up to the walkways above them. It was something to get used to.

On the farm, they didn't have any spirits because the story went that she went nuts one day when she didn't have the statue on her when she was five and nearly killed herself because she fell into a ditch and couldn't swim. The whole property had shamans and priests coming over to get rid of everything and establish a boundary.

"What do you want to know?" Izzy asked as she peeked behind the staircase. "Kol?"

He sat down in one of the chairs as he looked at her. Izzy was different from Bella. Seemingly more in tune for the first experience. "I don't know, what can you tell me?"

"Uh, this building is old, but there used to be wooden houses on this land… the 1700's?"

"True."

"I already know this was your home, but I see a Christmas celebration. You and your siblings looking very handsome, although you're slightly worried as you all pose on the stairs for a picture. I think early 1900's or maybe late 1800's. Not sure about the date."

"1912, I was daggered," Kol sighed. "For scheming against my brother."

She blinked at that, unsure of what to make of that knowledge as she looked back at the stairs. Taking a breath, she scratched her arms nervously. "What's up with these spirits stuck against the wall?"

"My sister-in-law's ancestors. They turned their backs on her so she made them her spiritual pets. She practices voodoo," he shrugged as he looked around.

"Yeah, up there," she said as she pointed to the room. "And next to that is a room with an easel."

"I'm sure you'll find a lot more in the dungeons downstairs. That room is my brother's study, her husband's. Your previous self was actually pretty good friends with him. I never figured out how or why."

"It was because of Myriam," Izzy said as she climbed the stairs until halfway. "And because of you. Your brother thought your interest in the girl was endearing and had actually believed she'd end up as a snack. When she didn't, he started to appreciate her more, but I do believe he feared her."

"Yep," Kol succinctly answered, looking down at his hands, remembering the morning the family knew that Bella was fully off limits with a small smile.

She walked down the stairs again and walked in an area. "There used to be a room here. Family gatherings. Uh… food. Dining room?"

He looked up and shrugged. "Not really. We just set up the table during family dinners. It was open concept, but the table was generally there. I could go for some Italian."

Izzy's eyes then grew wide at what she saw on the table as she saw two people having sex on the dining room table and then she rubbed her eyes and turned away. "I'm feeling sick."

Kol stood and made his way over to hand her the totem. "That's enough for today. I'll come find you at the Audubon Cottages in two days. Get some rest," he said before turning to go look at his old room with a solemn face.

"How did you know I was staying there?"

"Vampires and witches, oh my," he replied, climbing the stairs like he was walking to his death. "Go get some rest Isabelle."

"No."

He stopped short. "Isabelle. If you don't want me to break your pretty neck, I suggest you get the hell out of here right now."

"And I somehow get the feeling that you shouldn't be alone right now."

"I just want to be with my memories. I'll be fine, like I've been for the last fifty years. I'll find you in two days."

Izzy sighed as she walked back to her hotel and gathered her stuff before returning an hour later with her bag and food. She pulled some sheets off the couches, tables and chairs and set the food down on the table. She opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. "So, if you're a vampire, you must have vampire hearing. I'm back. I've got food and alcohol. You can join me whenever you want," she said as she tucked into her lasagna. "According to the butler service at the cottages, this is the best Italian in town. Although my lasagna is better."

The sound of doors slamming open and a flash of movement zipped across the floor before Izzy was engulfed in a bear hug. "Oh my god, I've missed you forever! Don't ever die again! If you sacrifice yourself again, I'll bring you back and kill you myself!" the woman cried as she rocked and hugged the girl.

Izzy let out a strangled sound. "You must be Myriam," she said as she tried to breathe. "I need air," she said as she tapped the vampire on her arm. "Please, let go of me."

Another man showed up and tried to pull Myriam off, irritated and concerned by the scene. "Love, please let the girl go," his smooth voice sounded. "She won't disappear."

"The hell I am. Yes she will!"

"The girl is human. You can smell her as well as I can," he said, growing irritable. "Let her go. She requires oxygen."

"But we can turn her and then she won't have to leave ever again. Let me turn her. Please, Klaus, let me."

"Myriam, that is her choice to make," he warned before drawing a sigh and shook his head. He reached out and grabbed his wife's head and twisted it, an audible snap filling the room and he took his lover in his arm before she fell. He reached out with his other to make sure that the human girl made it back to her seat. "KOL! Get your bloody arse down here!"

Any sane person would have grabbed their things and left. No, she should have upped and left, because she'd been nearly strangled by a vampire and now that vampire was dead. And food was ruined. Izzy had thought it'd be nice to bring food to Kol since he was talking about Italian food earlier and she was hungry, but instead the two vampires she'd seen having sex on the dining room table were here. And nearly killed her. "Is she dead, sir?"

Klaus let out a sigh as he put his lover on the sofa and made sure she'd be comfortable after waking up. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

"No, Mr. Mikaelson."

He tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. "And my brother told you to leave, why did you come back?"

"He basically kidnapped me," Izzy said as she hugged her knees to her chest. "And then he said I could go and he'd come and get me in two days. But I felt like he needed my help, so I came back."

Klaus nodded slowly. "He hasn't been the same since you left, but I'm sure everything will turn out alright. Myriam and I are here now and you can go back to your hotel."

"I cancelled it."

"Why?"

Izzy shrugged then. "My parents picked that hotel for me so I'd be safe, but they also made it clear that I'm a journey by myself, without them, so I suppose this was me pulling off the proverbial band aid."

He sighed then and tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're in no shape to entertain a guest right now. As you can tell, we haven't been in our home for quite some time and it needs some cleaning. Go back to your hotel for one night. Tomorrow is a different day."

"Oh, I can sleep anywhere, Mr. Mikaelson. Even if it's not a clean place. I've spent weeks in the barn sleeping on hay because we had some cows and horses who were prone to difficult labor," Izzy smiled at him.

Klaus stared back at her with a dumb and numb expression. "I'm going to want to kill you myself, aren't I?"

Izzy shrugged. "I'd ask my dad to confirm that threat but I deliberately ruined my phone," she said as she got to her feet and grabbed her bag. "But sure, I'll go."

He continued to stare at her as he stepped back. "If you truly ruined your reservation, I can make you a new one or you can stay across at Kol's flat. Whichever you find more comfortable. But here tonight is a bad idea, Sweetheart."

"I'll find some place, don't worry," Izzy said as she pointed at the food. "He needs to eat," she said as she started to walk towards the gates. "Have a good night."

Klaus eyes the bags with a frown. "You didn't cook this?" He called out, almost disappointed in what she'd say.

"No! I would have if I'd have a clean kitchen to work with, my lasagna is to die for," Izzy turned around to face him. "If your kitchen is clean tomorrow, I'd be happy to cook for you."

Klaus smiled then. "We'd like that."

Izzy nodded. "Good. Then you'll see me tomorrow," she then turned around and headed outside the gate to find herself another place to stay. The hotel she'd stayed at was likely now completely booked because yes, she did screw up her own reservation and maybe that had been stupid, but she felt like she couldn't stay there. Too fancy.

She eventually found a hotel on Magazine street that looked run down and old, but she loved the atmosphere of the hotel. It was rustic. She was shown to her room and it may not have looked a very safe space to be in, for one night it would be alright.

During her sleep she got awoken several times by the sounds of children giggling and a matron walking in and out her room and eventually Izzy got so tired of it that she took the angel statue with her in bed and the world had gone quiet again. Of course, she'd be the one to choose a haunted location to sleep in.


	37. Chapter 36

Izzy arrived back at the building the following afternoon, after gathering her stuff and doing groceries for her lasagna. She said she'd cook, so she was going to. Her night at the hotel hadn't been that bad, but she'd wished she had been able to get a few more hours of sleep in to deal with the madness that her journey was taking her in. "Good afternoon! I'll be in your kitchen!" she called out when she didn't see anyone and went to find it after putting her travel bag to the side and only carried her groceries in.

When she did eventually found the kitchen, she was shocked to see that it was a professional kitchen, dated, sure, but these kitchens were everywhere back in the day, and certainly not in a building such as this one. Everything she needed could be found in a logical space and she was happily chopping away when Kol entered the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Your brother was disappointed that I didn't cook last night, and as was I, so, I'm making dinner, it just takes a few hours."

"Bella, you don't have to cook, Nik will likely compel a chef to make us all dinner, but you're not cooking."

She slammed her knife down on the countertop before looking up at him. "Izzy. And I want to do this. Maybe it'll help get my thoughts in a normal order or shake the sleep out of my brains."

"Where did you sleep last night? I checked with the Cottages but you had canceled your reservation and they were fully booked?"

She nodded. "I stayed at some place on Magazine Street."

Kol let out a snort. "That big old building next to that coffee shop?"

"Yeah."

"How were the kids?" Kol asked her as he took a few steps closer. "Did the matron keep you awake by spanking you?"

"The kids were fine," Izzy said as she got her statue out of her pocket. "And gone after I grabbed this, but I woke up with a few bruises. Not sure if that's because of Myriam's enthusiasm of last night or because I was hurt by the matron."

He nodded and eyed the ceiling, thinking about his brother and his wife above them. "I need to remember to rip her heart out. It's long overdue. I've just been lazy to have to think of Nik's anger about it."

"She meant well," Izzy said as she put her statue back into her pocket and resumed chopping up the vegetables. "Although I must admit that I was scared of your brother for a second when he broke her neck. Thought she died."

"We're vampires and we're hard to kill. A snap of the neck is nothing but a good measure to give someone a quick time out," Kol replied as he leaned against a counter. "And I told you I'd get you in two days."

She shrugged. "I'm a rebel. Besides, I thought you were alone and I felt like you shouldn't be alone the way you were yesterday. I don't know you and you think you know me, but nobody who's in pain should be alone."

"I've been alone for fifty years and every breath during those years hurt. Until yesterday when you came back and gave me hope. And then immediately crushed it because you're not her."

"Do you want me gone?"

"No."

Izzy was quiet as she continued her task and watched him from the corner of her eye. "You know that I may not ever get those memories back that you are hoping for if what you are saying is true. Sure, I may have gotten your name right on a whim, and that test you pulled last night certainly freaked me out, but it is still a lot that isn't me."

"Somehow I don't even believe you were that freaked out."

She sighed and nodded. "I just don't like that side of me. I mean, I can't help them. Just see… and see residuals and feel…"

"You could see? Like always?"

"Yeah. Mom and dad had the farm cleansed after me leaving the house a few times without the statue and me ending up in the worst places," she replied as she put all the veggies into a pot and started to cut up some more. "So for some reason, it's like a thing that blocks that. Keeps me safe. Of course, I was taught some things by a real medium to deal with the sensitivity but I prefer that thing."

Kol blinked and nodded. "Of course you would. Myriam made that as a personal bubble to give my Bella a break from her abilities when they got overwhelming, especially here in New Orleans which is essentially a city of dead souls and battle ridden history of human and supernatural. If it hadn't been for that and my apartment, she would have eventually gone mad."

She nodded.

"But hold on," he let out a chuckle. "You said you didn't believe in that stuff."

"People tend to look at you weirdly when you say you see ghosts," Izzy replied.

"I'm a vampire, Darling. How much more strange can you get…. don't answer that. We have Myriam as proof."

"Still, you can likely kill someone with your pinky. I can only tell if people are haunted or not. Yeah, that'd scare them off," she let out a chuckle. "No, I don't like seeing things, and I'd rather be normal but with parents as mine normality is a skewed line as is."

"Normality is overrated."

"I suppose."

"So, does your lasagna sauce have to bubble away for a few hours?"

"Yeah, when I start on it, why?"

"We can give Myriam stir duty and I could show you around in New Orleans."

Izzy grew a little apprehensive. "Where were you thinking of going? Because I really don't want to go somewhere really haunted."

"I wasn't going to take you somewhere haunted. I wanted to take you to the touristy places tourists like to see, maybe go for a boat ride."

"No, I'm good, thanks," Izzy shook her head. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do here in New Orleans anyway. It was only when I saw this building, this familiar building, that I knew that this was where I was supposed to be."

He was somewhat relieved to hear that. He didn't want her to go anywhere, at all. He could ask a witch to come and check her out, but he also knew that the answers both he and Izzy were looking for were inside of her. "Well, I could get some people to rid the flat of the dust and make it smell better and you could stay there if you'd like. No more hotels. I'll stay here."

"Are you staying?"

"Of course, for now, the witches don't seem to mind three vampires in the Quarter, as long as we behave ourselves, I think we'll be fine," he replied. "Besides, I think the Ancestors will go easy on you this round, and we're the best people to help you."

"Ancestors?"

While the girl cooked, Kol told her all about the witches of New Orleans and the Ancestors. She had hopped onto the counter to look at him as the put the sauce on in the pan and listened. Kol had a very pleasant voice, Izzy believed that even if he'd recite the phone book she wouldn't get bored. "No offense," she said after he was done. "They sound like a bunch of dicks."

"They are, but the vampires left New Orleans out of our own free will to give it back to the witches. This is no longer our place."

"Where did you go?"

Kol shrugged. "I wanted to stay close to New Orleans in case you'd come back, so I went to Mobile, Alabama. It's almost a cheap knockoff of New Orleans although their Mardi Gras is older and it used to be the capital of New France back in the day. It's only a quick car ride or run to get here from there. Myriam and Nik went to Las Vegas. Our other brother went to France and my sister… she travels around."

"And what about your friend Jeremy?"

"He went back to Mystic Falls for a while, and then moved to Mobile. We were neighbors. I took care of him for the last few years of his life because his sister couldn't," he then let out a dark chuckle. "I swear, eighteen years ago he told me that I didn't have to wait for longer, that you and I were going to be reunited and I never believed him, but he said he had that information from Jasper Whitlock."

"I'm sorry that you didn't get what you had hoped for."

"I didn't know what to hope for to be honest. Bella said she'd come back to me, instead you're here. Not Bella. No memories. Nothing, apart from your drawing and poor life choices."

"Poor life choices, what?"

"You run to danger, instead of walking away as you're told. You stayed in a haunted hotel and now you're making food for a bunch of vampires who think you're someone else. We're all letting you be someone else because to think of you as our Bella with amnesia is just too painful."

"You're angry with her, aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" Kol blurted. "She left! She used up everything she had so we could kill a bunch of morons and then she just had to sacrifice herself to save my life and then she was gone! Of course, I'm still angry!"

"Fifty years is a very long time to be still angry with someone, you know."

"Not when you're a bloody vampire! She left me because she needed to desperately save me!"

"Maybe she thought you were worth saving, that you deserved to have a life."

"No, she did."

Izzy smiled then. "From what I can tell, you and Bella had an epic love. It's beautiful if you get to experience that, because not everyone is that lucky. But you're a vampire, surely you must have lost more people over the years you cared for?"

"They weren't her, and that's different. Don't psychoanalyze me."

"I'm not, I just want to help."

"Don't," he said as he pushed himself off the counter and headed to the door. "I'm going to make sure the flat is clean for you to stay. I'll be back in a while. Don't get yourself killed, Myriam might not have the same patience I have when it concerns you."

"Why don't you want me to help? You kidnapped me yesterday and then let me go. You're emotionally unstable and you expect, what? Exactly?"

"The only way you can help _me_ is if you allow me access to your mind."

"Hypnosis?"

"Something like that," he sighed as he leaned against the doorpost. "I'm a vampire. With that comes certain perks, such as longevity, strength… we can tell people to do things for us against their will, such as giving us their blood or cluck like a chicken… and some of us are experts in telepathy," he explained. "Bella and I went inside her head to help her and we learned new things about her. Together. Nik and I went inside Bella's head and we learned more. I believe the answers that I seek concerning you are inside your mind."

"Okay. How long would that take?"

"That depends. Sometimes minutes, or hours."

Izzy let out a breath and nodded. "Well, if Myriam would want to be on stir duty, that'd be grand because I want to help you and what you need is inside of me, so, let's do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Why else am I here? It might just be my purpose, the journey I'm on."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Nothing is absolute or sure until I ask my jerk of a know it all father. If you'd give me your phone I'll happily call him. But that's cheating, is it?" Izzy hopped off the counter and stirred the pot before putting the utensil down, by the time she looked up, Myriam was in the kitchen. "You're not going to squish me again, are you?"

"I'm on stir duty," Myriam said happily as she hopped on the counter. "Off you go, kids. I cleaned your old room, Kol. You know, changed the sheets, cleaned the dust..."

"Thanks, Myr," he smiled at her before motioning for the girl to follow him. They went up the stairs back to the courtyard and Kol pointed over to one of the tucked away bedrooms. "That's mine. I was never worthy enough to have a top floor room. Well… my brothers and sister took up the entire top floor, I was never around long enough to claim a part upstairs."

"But you have an apartment?"

"Yes, it's where I liked to spend my days, because it was the only safe place from my siblings. They couldn't enter. Myriam can, now, but Nik is still locked out."

"It's nice that they still allow you to have your room here then, too."

"It's convenient," Kol replied as he opened the door and let out a deep sigh as it was still the same from the last time he'd be in there. It had been with Jeremy and Bella, discussing the scroll. But everything smelled fresh, even the bedding. "It's easier if you'd lie down on the bed, it's more comfortable for you and for me."

Izzy eyed him for a moment. "You're not going to take advantage of me, are you?"

"I'm honorable, I promise. I'm just going to go inside your head and you can join me if you wish," he said as he pointed at the bed. "Despite me unwrapping that package in front of you yesterday and likely giving you the wrong ideas about me, I'm a one girl man and you're not her."

She nodded and sighed as she got onto the bed. "And you don't have to take me with you. For some reason I have the feeling I'm not supposed to know or hear what's going on in there."

"Really now?"

"Yeah, that feeling started a few years ago, I can't explain it without sounding like a weirdo."

"I'm a vampire, you see ghosts," he reminded her.

She laid down and shrugged. "I don't know, like I'm not supposed to exist."

"That's ridiculous," Kol laughed as he got on the bed himself.

"I know, right?"

"Last chance, Isabelle, are you absolutely sure?" He ran his hand through her blonde hair and looked into her blue eyes. She wasn't Bella. There was nothing he recognized in those eyes of hers, and it still hurt.

"Yes."

"Okay, close your eyes, relax and take a deep breath," he told her calmly and after she did as she was told, he gently put a hand on her forehead and slipped inside her mind. It had been easier, he hadn't even had to work hard to push through barriers and her mind felt different. Far too human.

He was in a pasture with horses with numbers on them, the foal being 18 and then the horses seemed to mature as the age went down, and the whole herd was happy. Content. The sun was out and it was simply beautiful. The girl hadn't been wrong about a happy life. It felt like it, especially when some of the horses approached him and touched him with their noses. He could feel her happiness. Her frustration with the drawings, her parents, the spirits, but mostly happiness. Safety.

But Kol knew he had to get out of there and find Bella. This was Izzy, and he hoped that Bella's area was more or less still intact. He hopped over the fence and walked into the woods before emerging in Bella's street, and what he saw, shocked him.

There was tape everywhere, signs with 'keep out' and the houses in severe disarray, except for the last one, house number 23, Bella's version of the Compound, looking pretty and very much intact. He had to smile then, at least those were the better memories, it was a good thing she had managed to hold on to those.

He ducked underneath the tape and the moment he did, a pack of wolves rushed at him and they didn't appear to be stopping so he went back behind the tape as the wolves barked and growled at him from the other side. "Woah, I'm just here to make sure everything is alright, good doggies."

"Bella's gone," young Bella said as she made her way through the wolves and looked up at Kol. "Or most of her," she said as she pointed at the broken houses. "This is all what's left of her."

"What happened?"

"The Volturi happened," young Bella said as she ducked underneath the tape to take Kol's hand and pulled him along with her, the wolves now leaving him alone. "She had to use so much energy in that castle that she had to pull it from somewhere else. So she pulled it from herself. Saving you cost at least twelve houses of memory, and she used the remaining houses to go nuclear and make the castle go poof."

"Apart from 23."

"It's her happy place," young Bella said as she lead him to home 23. "She's still in there, but she doesn't remember much of her time before you."

"You said she was gone."

"The Bella you knew is gone. What you're going to meet is a Bella who hasn't gone through hardship, betrayal and loss. Uncomplicated. Happy. But everything that made her who she is prior to 23 is gone."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not really," young Bella said as she pushed him through the door.

Kol blinked at the intensity of the light, the purple and pink light. "Bella?"

"You're here!" she said excitedly as she let herself fall from the chandelier she was sitting on, right into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Wait, why are you here? Is something wrong with who we sent you? Can't be, we made sure she was with the Whitlocks, have a good life. She's not dying, is she?"

"Slow down," he let out a chuckle and squinted as he looked at her. Her brown eyes looking back at him and he felt home. "Izzy is alright, but she doesn't remember anything. Just fragments and even that feels like pulling teeth."

"She's human."

"I know, and she smells really nice," he sighed happily as he kept looking at her. "I've missed you, my love. It's so good to see you again."

Bella shook her head. "I'm broken. You have Izzy now."

"You said you'd come back."

"I can't," Bella replied as she shook her head. "You need to talk to Ylva."

"I'm going to kill that bitch."

"Noooo! She saved me. This." Bella waved her hand around her. There were many memories floating around them and she smiled. "I love watching us, we were great. If it weren't for Ylva, I'd be gone completely. Now I'm still here and I'm broken. But still here."

"How are you broken?"

Bella seemed to think hard for a moment. "Do you remember when you and Klaus were here and Klaus suggested to knock down all the houses? Little me said that I wouldn't be able to pee, right?"

"Yes."

"I can't just come back with one intact house, no matter how much you'd want me to. I wouldn't be able to walk, talk or take care of myself. So, Ylva and I sent you Izzy, because I can't leave you on your own for too long."

"But she's not you, nor does she remember me."

"Kol, we put all of our efforts in making her _human_. She has this tiny brain that won't be able to hold the most important information and we would have been giving it her when she was a baby, that would have been so wrong and could have gone so wrong, and now she's found you, that's great! That means we can try to give her some more memories but she'll never fully be able to remember."

"She's not you."

"She could be," Ylva said as she stood in the doorway. "But it's a choice of morality that you'll have to make. Izzy is her own person. She's had a great life and she's human. We had to give her a personality because otherwise she wouldn't have been a person and had the opportunity to thrive."

"So?"

"If you'd turn Izzy, she'd be able to hold Bella's memories of you. Mostly feelings, though, as those are the strongest memories."

"Okay, so I'll turn her. No big deal," Kol shrugged.

"But she still won't be Bella," Ylva reminded him. "We could use whatever we have left to swap Bella with Izzy, so that Bella takes over Izzy's body. Bella will retain Izzy's happy memories, and also her own. But that means that we'll be destroying ourselves, and Izzy is a person of her own, after all. That's the morality question."

"The choice is simple," Kol said as he looked at Bella. "I already told Izzy I was going to be selfish for once. She told me just now that she feels like she wasn't supposed to be. I will turn Izzy and I want my Bella back."

"She'll still be a different Bella than you've grown to know and love," Ylva replied. "She won't have her abilities anymore, you're going to turn her into a vampire so she'll lose all of that, or perhaps retain a slight sensitivity. She won't remember her life before she met you, and will take Izzy's life instead. Izzy is eighteen, you need to ask her parents if you can do what you're planning to do after talking to Izzy. If all parties agree, then we can proceed."

"Oh, so now you decide to be all moral, Ylva?" Kol shot at her.

"I, too, have learned from my mistakes."

"Hey," Bella said as she made Kol look at her and softly kissed his lips. "Talk to Izzy. Ask her parents. If they agree, then turn Izzy and I'll come back, but broken."

"Bella, if you're going to be able to walk, talk and pee on your own when you're in Izzy's body, you're not broken. You and I have unfinished business," he returned the kiss and sighed. "If we do this, all of you will be gone. No more Ylva, no more little you, or the wolves or having to keep the balance."

"And that would be such a relief," Bella sighed as she put her forehead against his. "One more life, and a real one."

"Are you sure?"

Bella nodded. "You still need to unwrap that package I bought you."

"I did, in front of Izzy. She freaked out, but in my defense, I thought she was you."

She laughed and kissed him again. "Go back. We'll see each other soon."


	38. Chapter 37

"How are you feeling?" Kol asked Izzy as he had slipped out of her mind. "Headache?"

"Slightly," she said as she slowly sat up. "Dizzy," she frowned then as she looked at him. "Why do I remember everything you did in my head? I told you, I didn't-"

"Must be Ylva's fault, but that makes our conversation a lot easier."

Izzy sighed. "Well, at least she confirmed my feeling of being basically useless and only a template waiting for something to happen," she said as she held out her hand. "Can I have your phone please? I'll call my father."

He was slightly unnerved by the girl's defeat. "But what about you?"

"I was never supposed to be here, right? Your girlfriend lost everything apart from her last year of life. She'll get my memories of a happy childhood and loving parents. She'll be stable. And I'll disappear. I was made for her."

"What about your parents?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if they'd known about this outcome all along but hid it from me," she reached out to touch his cheek and smiled at him. "It's alright, crazier things have happened, right? I mean… I was an impossible being and now made human. For her. For you."

"But you have your whole life ahead of you."

"To be honest, I doubt that," Izzy shook her head with a chuckle. "I came here because my parents sent me here. Then I found your home. My entire life has been me preparing for this. So yeah, if my journey ends so that she can continue another, then that's alright with me."

Kol frowned as he stared at her, unsure and conflicted about the whole situation Bella and Ylva put them in. "It's really not fair to any of us for this to be the only option."

"Maybe my dad knows another way, but I'm a part of them, you know. They created me so that she could live forever with you. And maybe they hadn't anticipated the destruction of most of her memories but that's just how things go."

"But it's wrong of them."

"Maybe, yeah, but my daddy always used to say that mostly everyone in the supernatural community are selfish cunts, I suppose your Bella isn't any different," Izzy said with a shrug as she got off the bed. "If you're not going to let me call my dad just yet, I'll go back into the kitchen to finish the lasagna."

Kol sighed as he watched Izzy walk out of his room and cursed himself for having been so enthusiastic about seeing Bella again and agreeing to turn her so Bella could come back. Of course, it was morally wrong. It was a question of morality like Ylva had said, but what if he decided not to turn Izzy because he wanted Bella back but wanted her to remain Izzy? Would he have to make sure that Bella and Ylva were forcefully evicted? Or would Bella be alright with this?

He'd been so focused on getting Bella back, so angry with Bella for what she'd done, and here there was this beautiful young girl looking somewhat like Bella, wasn't Bella, and yet was Bella in tiny ways, and he wanted to kill her so that Bella could come back? He'd go far to get Bella back, but this far?

Jeremy would skin him alive, if he'd still be around, no matter his age.

Yes, Kol loved Bella. With everything he had, and then some. She'd been a broken little bird and with him, she blossomed into a beautiful swan. But then she left him. Because she had to save him after he put himself in a situation where he could have been killed. She just had to expel all that energy to level that castle to the ground.

And the worst part was that she'd known what she was doing.

He had thought about this for a very long time, but more and more Bella had dipped into the darkness that she swore to stay out of and Kol believed it was because she was around death and destruction all the time, and not to mention a vampire family who were just as destructive.

If they'd bring Bella back, what was to say that she wasn't going to do the same? Sure, she wouldn't be an energy being anymore and not being able to pick up on feelings and emotions of others, but she'd be a destructive vampire.

Izzy was like Bella, but not. And even if becoming Bella had been her destiny, her journey, things could change. He hadn't thought of the possibilities until now. Yes, he was going to be selfish, but not because he was going to get Bella back, but he was going to make Izzy his. Even if that meant having to start from scratch.

And he'd find a way to destroy Bella and Ylva forever.

He headed over to his flat to clean up and make it liveable for Izzy. He put all of Bella's things in a box and stuffed it under the bed in his guest room. The fridge he had used five decades ago was still working so he moved the blood bags to that fridge in the guest room and put the loveseat chair he had bought for him and Bella in the compound's basement. Including Bella's gift that he had opened in front of Izzy.

Satisfied with his handiwork, he went back to the compound and had a snack before walking back into the kitchen where Izzy was her usual cheery self as she was still stirring the sauce. "Wow, how long does that have to cook for before you make your lasagna?"

Izzy shrugged. "Another half an hour will do, I'm preheating the oven right now," she put her spoon down and looked at him. "I know you want your girlfriend back, but before you kill me, I'd like to have this lasagna as my last meal."

Kol sat down on top of one of the counters and looked at her. "It doesn't bother you at all?"

"No."

"But what would you do if I decide it's not worth it?"

Izzy blinked at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you mean?"

He let out a breath and tried again. "Well, you now know that you've been drawing this place and our faces for a reason, you're a new version of someone who's been here before. What if we leave it at that, what would you do? What were your plans after New Orleans?"

"Oh, uhm… vet school. We have this awesome vet in Texas where I usually help out anyway and he sees a good vet in me. I'd love to earn my money with my art but yeah, good luck breaking through with that. Maybe animate children's books. I don't know. My parents always told me not to worry, that there were bigger things planned for me."

"Like what?"

"Well, I suppose you can't go any bigger than to find out your feelings of not belonging are true and you're going to have to make room for someone's epic love," she smiled bravely. "Who will inherit my past, my parents, my life, because hers got ruined. She'll be human, because she burnt herself out while taking out her enemies and saving the love of her life. I suppose that's a good reward for saving someone's life, although flowers would have been nice, too. A thank you," Izzy took a deep breath as she tried to remain neutral on the subject but simply couldn't. "The supernatural community can do whatever the fuck they want, no matter who gets hurt in the process, and while _she_ had the best intentions with her spirits, she's not concerned about her creation and the life her creation has made because she's going to take it away. For you. Seriously, if you'd write a book about all of this crap, I'm sure it'll be a bestseller. Epic loves."

"Don't hold back, darling," Kol encouraged her, he knew his brother and Myriam were listening behind the door, he'd seen the pained and conflicting looks on their faces as they listened.

"If she was supposed to hold a balance, where would she draw the line? Certainly not with playing God! And yes, I'm fine with her taking over my life, why not? You want it, because you believe that you'll get back what you had, but you won't, because she'll be human. And she'll hate it because she won't be able to do what she used to do. You'll both be miserable and then you'll end up killing her and you'll be wasting a life. Mine," she turned back to her pot to stir it again. "But yeah, we should call my dad to see what he has to say about the matter. Maybe there's a way for you to get your girlfriend back without me fading away or perhaps it had been my destiny all along, to just go poof. In any case, I don't even want to know what she felt for you, have her memories of you."

"Why not?"

Izzy let out a breath as she took the lasagna pan and started to layer her lasagna. "Because if you decide not to bring her back and allow me to continue living, I might want to stick around and get to know you better myself," she said softly before she looked up with her sad blue eyes. "And this is going to sound strange, and stalkery, but for the first time in my life I truly feel like I belong and not out of place. And that might be Bella, or that might be just me, I don't know. It'd be nice to explore that."

Kol hopped off the countertop and slowly walked over to Izzy. "I loved Bella and for the last fifty years I've held on to the idea of her someday returning to me, but never in a million years I would have believed it was going to be at the expense of someone else, because that's not what she was about. For her to do something like that now… yes, of course I'd be happy to have her back, but like you said, she likely won't be the same."

"And technically it wasn't Bella who offered the transfer, it was Ylva," Izzy said with a sigh. "She might be fine where she is."

"How about you and I go talk to Bella after dinner? We'll just ignore Ylva and see what happens?"

"But don't you want your girlfriend back? I thought you wanted to be selfish."

"Yeah, I am. If I want Bella back, I want all of her, not something slapped together with superglue. The Bella we all know and love is gone, and I think it's time to accept that, for all of us," Kol said as he opened the oven for her so she could push the dish in. "You deserve to be your own person, Izzy and I'm selfishly calling dibs on you even though I still need to get to know you, and not because you remind me of Bella, but because I'm just as curious as you are."

"I still think we need to call my dad to see if this is a bad idea or not. What if what we're planning not to do will be a catastrophe?"

"We'll just see how it goes," Kol laughed as he shook his head. "Know-it-all fathers are a pain in the ass."

"He's still a great dad, and I don't want to mess with things if they're supposed to be set in stone."

"Nothing is set in stone but history."

She leaned against the counter as she looked up at him. "Why the change of heart? You're a vampire, you can take whatever you want, why not my life for hers?"

"Because she taught me that every life is valuable and you just reminded me that it was Ylva who said they could put Bella into you. If Bella's truly at ease with you continuing your life as yourself, then that should happen, don't you think?"

"But I don't want you to hurt, you love Bella. As you said, you've waited for fifty years and-"

"I want her. Whole. Not half or a third. Don't worry about me, you better start thinking what you're going to do with your life other than sticking around," he took a step closer to her then. "Because I think you and I will have a lot of fun together."

"I'm not going to be your rebound."

"Already had a few of those in the past few years, darling," he smiled at her. "We'll start with being friends, how about that?"

"Sounds good," Izzy smiled at him.

Izzy was happy that the three vampires liked her lasagna as much as she did. They were happily chatting about their lives and catching up and about Myriam's hobby of being a voodoo priestess. She was adamant that it wasn't a hobby, and that if they had to leave New Orleans again, she was bringing her ancestors with them.

"So, Kol said you had my little totem," Myriam smiled at her as she held out her hand. "Can I touch it?"

"Uh…" Izzy said as her hand quickly traveled into her pocket and clutched the statue. "I'd rather not."

"But I made it."

"And I'm grateful that you did, but if I hand it over to you now, I'm afraid I'll see you and your husband have sex on this table again and it made me feel sick yesterday, I'd rather not regurgitate my lasagna."

Kol nearly spat out his wine as he looked at Izzy in shock. "That's what made you feel sick yesterday? I thought it was something I had said."

"No? Was that why you got so sad?"

"You're a freaking sensitive?" Myriam blinked at Izzy. "How bad?"

"I can see and feel things, and see residuals, but I can't actually talk to them or help them move on, so it kinda sucks. I wish I could help them, but I can't, so in favor of not getting hit all the time or strangled by frustrated spirits, I keep your totem on me at all times. I'm kinda grateful to Bella now for having left me with it for my parents to find. Without it I'd probably have gone mad," she said with a slight chuckle as she used her free hand to take a sip of her wine. "An off switch would be nice."

"Yeah," Kol sighed. "She won't make me one."

Izzy looked at him then. "But you're a vampire and you told me that vampires don't possess magic or gifts."

"No, but in the past, I've ingested Bella's blood a few times, and after she made sure that I didn't die when I was dying, something of her remained. I don't have it that bad, really, but it does get annoying sometimes. It took me a while to find a witch capable of making my new place in Mobile as quiet as the apartment here," Kol explained. "I don't see the residuals, thankfully."

"Bella called them Skidmarks," Myriam laughed. "Residual hauntings."

"Oh, that's gross," Izzy let out a snort. "Why on earth would she do that?"

"Because the first one she encountered was one of Nik and my sister and they were running," Kol explained, a small smile on his lips. "It annoyed me and Jeremy that she refused to call them anything but skidmarks."

"It certainly is… unusual," Izzy shook her head as she finished her wine. "Why did you decide to keep her website up? Or the youtube videos?"

Kol shrugged. "She was a legend in the field and I want people to remember that. She cared for people and spirits, it was only after… the Cullen House that she changed. She still cared, a lot, but she was more hellbent on taking revenge. We allowed her to take that, of course, so I suppose we all have a hand in her leaving."

"We've been over this many times over the past years," Klaus said as he looked at his brother. "We could have gone after the Volturi ourselves but we wouldn't have made it out alive. She saved you, us."

"We should have said 'no', compelled an army of vampires to march the bloody hell in there so our hands would remain clean, but we didn't," Kol snapped at his brother. "And hindsight is always clearer so yeah, what the fuck can we do about it now?"

Izzy put her hand on Kol's arm and squeezed it as she smiled at him. "We're going to talk to Bella and I think you should tell her how it made you feel after she did what she did, just to get it off your chest."

"I told you, to stop psychoanalyzing me!"

"She's right though," Myriam pointed out. "Bella deserves to know."

Kol looked at Izzy with panic on his face. "Can't you just tell her?"

Izzy let out a chuckle. "I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Myriam could take you inside your mind. Or Nik."

She sucked in a breath. "I think this is something you have to do on your own," she said softly, squeezing his arm again. "And you can do it."

"But do I want to?"

"Might make you feel better?"

Kol nodded and got to his feet before going over to Izzy's bag and lifted it up. "Fine, but we're going across the street because I don't want anyone else to hear what we're doing. And you're going to stay in the flat. I'll be here or stay in the guestroom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you deserve some freedom of movement without anxiously holding on to that little statue like you have. My flat is a nice little bubble that I'm sure you'll appreciate."

Myriam rushed over to hug Izzy gently. "Thank you so much for the delicious lasagna! Feel free to cook more of that whenever you feel like it!"

"Well, I am a decent cook… I make a nice roast?"

Myriam let out a squeal of delight while Klaus let out a disapproving sigh. "Have fun, you two and good luck."

Kol asked for the angel statue the moment he closed the door behind them and she reluctantly handed it over. He set it down on the stairs and lead her up the stairs to the now clean apartment.

"Oh, okay," Izzy said in awe as she looked around. "You cleaned up."

"Of course, I can't let you stay in a dusty environment, you're human!" He replied chipper and put her bag in her bedroom. "So, what do you think? It's nice and quiet here, isn't it?"

"It's like a bubble," Izzy replied and even tried to focus on something but wasn't getting anything. She'd been in his apartment before, of course, after he'd kidnapped her, but this was the first time without her statue. "Oh, this is brilliant."

Kol smiled when he saw the familiar look of relief on Izzy's face. "Your bedroom is this one," he said as he thumbed over his shoulder. "Are you ready to go back inside your mind?"

"It'll be my first time actually inside my head myself. And that sounds so strange," Izzy sighed and nodded as she walked into the bedroom. "Let's do this then."

"I love how all your memories are these beautiful horses," Kol said to her as they were standing in the pasture.

Izzy looked around in surprise, perhaps shock. "This is a part of our farm, how is that inside my head?"

"Well, Bella has a bunch of houses in a row for her memories and not a lot of people are this neat and organized. It truly reflects you as a person. With other people and even with vampires we usually have to dig and sift through everything," he replied as he took her hand and lead her off the property into the residential area. "Don't be alarmed of what you're about to see."

Izzy hesitantly followed him over the fence and through the woods and was surprised to see a road split perfectly in half, most of it dark with the exception of one house with the number 23. The other houses were derelict and in the dark.

They had to stop at the tape when a pack of wolves appeared and started to snap at them. "We think that these wolves represent other versions of you who didn't quite make it."

"Finally, he gets it," young Bella appeared and froze upon seeing Izzy. "You brought her here?!" She screeched. "She can't be here!"

"Tough, we want to talk to Bella, and it would be nice if Ylva wasn't there to speak for her," Kol said as Izzy looked at the child with a look of horror on her face. "You think you can get her to Izzy's pasture?"

Young Bella sighed and shook her head. "She's confined to that house, Ylva doesn't want her to wander off."

"Okay, then we are going inside," Kol ducked underneath the tape. "Your wolves better not bite me or Izzy," he warned her before taking Izzy to Bella's version of the compound. "She's surrounded by nothing but good memories," he explained to Izzy.

"Do you think she'll be capable of having a serious conversation?"

"Let's hope so," he sighed as they walked in. Earlier he had been so excited to see Bella again that he hadn't really looked around much, not taken inventory. But there were gaps in the compound. Large portions of the roof were gone and she may have been broken more than he initially thought.

He'd been so blinded by the prospect of seeing Bella again and getting her back, that he hadn't seen just how bad she was. And it hurt. He looked up to see her sitting in the chandelier again. "Darling, why won't you come down here?"

"Oh, you're back!" Bella laughed and let herself fall off the chandelier right into Kol's arms. "I told you we'd see each other again!"

"Yes, you did," he smiled at her before finding a place to sit down with her and nodded towards Izzy. "Bella, meet Izzy, Izzy, this is Bella."

"You brought her here? Why did you bring her here? She's not supposed to be here," Bella said quickly. "What if Ylva finds out? Ylva won't be happy and-"

"It's okay," he shushed her as he pulled Bella against him. "I actually wanted to talk to you."

Bella sighed and relaxed against him. "As long as she doesn't move, I'm happy to talk to you. I don't want to ruin her brains, she's so beautifully human."

Kol looked at Izzy who pushed her hands into her pocket. "I'm not moving."

"Don't you think that I did a good job with her?" Bella looked up at Kol. "Ylva helped but I couldn't just let you be on your own until I'd be fixed, because I don't think there's anything left to glue back together, no matter what Ylva says. I kept nagging her and nagging her because you needed me."

"I did need you," Kol ran his fingers through her hair and smiled at her. "But then you made some bad decisions and burnt yourself out, saving me and blowing up the castle."

"I already told you, I couldn't let you die. And I thought I could come back, as me, but I wasn't aware of all the damage I was doing to myself and now I'm ruined. Broken. I don't deserve another chance and you shouldn't listen to Ylva that I can come back." Bella briefly looked over to Izzy before smiling at Kol again. "She's her own person. Human. I would only ruin things."

Kol let out a breath and nodded. So it had been just Ylva's influence to do that. "I must admit, darling, I've been very cross with you. For the last fifty years I never stopped looking for you or stopped looking for ways to bring you back but since you're so special, I couldn't find anything. And I was angry, I was hurt, because you knew what you were doing and you left me. You said you'd never leave me."

"And I wanted you to live," Bella countered. "Call me selfish, but life without you… I couldn't even imagine that."

"And instead, I'm living a life without you," he shot at her. "They could have brought my ashes back home and find a badass witch to resurrect me, anything if that would have made you not do what you did."

"If. It's always 'what if', after the fact. We could have done things differently, yes, but we can't change that now," she looked at Izzy. "What are your thoughts?"

"Oh no, this is between you and Kol, leave me out of it," Izzy shook her head. "You two need to work through your feelings. You're going to leave my feelings out of it."

"But surely you had some thoughts about Ylva's suggestion?"

"This is between you and Kol," Izzy said as she walked out the door and waited outside, only to be stopped by little Bella and her wolves. "Fine, I'll stay here."

Kol sighed. "Bella… I never gave up on you because I love you, but I never stopped to think if it was actually possible for you to return. And then you send Izzy to me. Izzy. Not you. Even with Ylva's suggestions you will never be you again, because you'll be part Izzy. Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

"I don't want to come back, Kol. I can't. I'm too broken. You're not listening to me. We made Izzy so you wouldn't be alone. And Ylva is just afraid that our light is going to dim for good, well, if you've seen the state of everything, we're fucked anyway," she said as she made him look at her. "I love you so much, Kol Mikaelson, but I can't have you bring me back. There are no guarantees. You need to let me go."

"I don't want to."

"You're going to have to, because once you leave Izzy's head, I'm going to make sure that she'll be alone inside her mind like a normal human being. She'll be in her own mind. Alone. Without us. And I don't care if you two don't end up together, but I want you to take care of her until she's adjusted to being autonomous. No more whispers in her dreams, nothing."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do the right thing," Bella said determined. "And so are you. And you're going to heal and move on with your life, Kol. I don't want you to stand still and wonder if I'm ever going to come back. I can't. And Izzy is not me, you got that?"

"Bella, I-"

"For the girl. She deserves better than being used by me or Ylva. That was never my intention for her, and you're the one who can help her through this, because it's likely she'll feel off for a while after I'm done with us," she softly kissed Kol's lips. "I'm one of those creations of your mother's who doesn't deserve your kindness, your love, after what I've done to myself to save you and our family."

"But you do, after all that you've done for the spirits."

"I suppose, but I'm not that person anymore. I wouldn't be able to. And I don't know what I am without them, what I would be," she kissed him again. "You have to let me go, Kol."

"Why couldn't you have been a normal supernatural being? That way we could have brought you back fully."

"Because I'm not," she gently caressed his face and smiled. "I died, Kol. And I'm not coming back. This is the last of me that you'll see, and I'm going to make sure that Izzy will be free from me," she kissed him again. "Don't look back to the past, but look to the future. Keep moving forward. I will always love you, Kol."

"You were stupid."

"Not in my eyes. I saved you. It was either you or me, I suppose."

"I hate you."

"I know," she softly kissed him again and pushed him off the couch. "Grab Izzy and get out. You've been here for far too long and her human mind can't handle that. She's going to have headaches for days even when I'm done with our mind. Take care of her, see what you want to do, but please don't kill her. Send her back to her parents if you don't want her."

"We're going to be friends, Bella," he smiled sadly. "She's not you."

"You're stalling," she said as she rose and pushed him towards the door. "Grab Izzy and go."


	39. Chapter 38

"Ow," Izzy groaned as she grabbed her head and rolled onto the bed, trying to soothe the pain in her head. "What the hell!"

"Sorry," Kol apologized. "I think we overstayed our welcome," he bit in his hand and offered it to her. "Here, drink this, you'll feel better."

"Ew! No!" she pushed his hand away from her and grabbed a pillow to put over her head. "Fuck!"

"Izzy."

"No! Leave me alone!"

Kol felt a little helpless now. Izzy was obviously in pain and he had the means to help her out. "I just want to help, drink my blood, it'll get rid of the pain."

"Give me your phone and leave," she said as she peeked out from underneath the pillow. "Please, I want to be alone and call my dad."

Kol sighed as he placed the phone on the bed and got off. "Alright, I'll leave you alone. I'm going to pop over to Nik's alright? I'll be back shortly."

Izzy made sure she heard the front door open and close, which wasn't too hard to hear because everything was so loud and echoing inside her mind right now that it was hard to think straight. It took her a good ten minutes to type in her father's phone number in Kol's phone because of the bright light and put it half underneath a pillow so it wouldn't be too loud for her.

" _Peter Whitlock."_

"Daddy."

" _Bunny! Are you alright?"_

"I broke my phone yesterday, this is my friend's phone," she said in a small voice. "I don't know if what we did was right, daddy… was I supposed to give in and just let it happen? Was I selfish for wanting to live my own life even though I don't have a purpose yet?"

" _It's not about you being selfish, bunny,"_ he said after a while. " _I think that you wanted the right thing. You found out what your history is, and you made a decision. And I think that's a very good thing. I had hoped you'd make the right decision. I'm proud of you."_

"But he's so sad and she was so broken and sad and-"

" _You don't have to stay there if you don't want to. You can come home."_

"I'm not done yet. He needs my help. I think. I don't know. I can't think right now. That's why I'm calling you."

Peter sighed, knowing she wanted him to tell her what to do. " _I can't give you the answers you are looking for from me. You need to decide for yourself if this is what you want to go forward with or not. Because once that family attaches itself to you, there is no turning back. You see how much it hurt to lose their precious friend. If they bring you in like that for you to change your mind down the road, they could be even more hurt or turn angry and that isn't one family your mother and I care to encounter in that kind of mood."_

"Are they good people?"

" _They can be,"_ he answered carefully. " _But they are vampires with volatile emotions. They don't take betrayal kindly. So when you decide, be sure of your choice. There won't be any backing out."_

"Do you think they'll be what I need?"

" _That I don't have an answer to. Only you do."_

"You're purposely not answering my questions because it's free will and my own journey, isn't it? Time for me to grow up."

" _I can't answer something I don't have an answer to Izzy. You know it doesn't work that way."_

"Fine, but knowing what you know… do you wish to see me with these people or do you think I should come back and stay?"

" _Living with a witch, I'd say no, but every supernatural creature, witches included, have a good and dark side. It's a matter of who they surround themselves with. Think about what you've observed and learned so far."_

"I'm not a witch," she muttered. "I'm a freak created by something that's not even known on the supernatural scale to fuck with nature and get herself back into the land of the living or maybe not because it was someone else who wanted that. So I am nobody."

" _Your mother is, however. Because how she was raised, she would instinctively say no, but you can't just go on someone else's say so. History sometimes tends to teach the wrong lessons. And you are not a nobody. You have your own mind to choose what you want."_

"What if I make the wrong choice?"

" _Then you make the wrong choice and learn from it. I can't help you with this, bunny, this is your own path."_

"Fine," she sighed as she winced at the front door shutting again. "I'd better go. Thanks daddy."

" _And if that young man offers you his blood to help you with your headache, you take it."_

"Ugh," she said as she hung up and flung the phone back onto the bed. Her headache was a bit less, but occasionally she could feel a sharp pain in her head and she didn't dare to get off the bed and do something. But she needed to apologize to Kol for being so rude.

She tried to get off the bed but got dizzy and fell back again.

Apologizing to Kol had to wait until he was back into the room.

~o.O.o~

She wasn't sure when or how she'd fallen asleep but when she came to, her room had three extra people in it and they were reading a book. "Well, that's not creepy," Izzy muttered as she sat up and rubbed her head. The headache was gone. Everything felt so light and easy and as if everything was open and possible.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kol asked as he threw the book across the room like a coaster and sat down on the bed to check her over. "You were out for a couple of days."

Klaus never looked up from his sketch pad as he spoke with an amused tone. "Seems like deja vu."

"I'm feeling fine… I think…" she kept rubbing her head. "Ugh, it itches."

"Are you sure you're feeling fine?"

"Yes. Why are you all here?"

"We were worried, we weren't sure if you were going to wake up," Myriam smiled at her. "Sorry for the creepy factor but we wanted to make sure you were alright."

Izzy nodded. "Eh, I'll go and take a shower and get some clean clothes." When nobody moved, she added; "Alone."

"Another prude," Myriam sighed as she pulled Klaus out of the room. "Come on, let's get her something to eat for when she's all cleaned up."

Kol looked at Izzy and he could see something had changed in her eyes. It wasn't as if there was a conflict, but she looked brighter and lighter. "I have to admit something, darling," he said as he walked towards the bedroom door to respect her privacy. "For a moment there I was afraid that Bella would have failed and that Ylva would have killed you."

"I'm still here," she smiled at him. "And thank you for your concern, I know it mustn't be easy to give up on her."

"It's fine, it's the right thing. Good that you're still with us," he smiled and headed out of the bedroom leaving Izzy alone to clean herself up and get into a clean change of clothes. Izzy had been out for a couple of days, giving him, Klaus and Myriam some time to deal with the fact that while Izzy looked a lot like Bella, she wasn't Bella. Bella died fifty years ago and Izzy wasn't Bella in any shape or form.

There were similarities, like the incredible lasagna she'd made, but she wasn't Bella. She was her own person and both Klaus and Myriam were eager to get to know Izzy, and Kol wouldn't mind if she'd stuck around either. As friends. He also knew that it wasn't going to be easy, especially for him and Myriam and there might be trouble ahead.

Klaus looked at his brother with a knowing look on his face. Oh, his brother cared deeply for the girl already. "You do know you'll have to tell her that we're on a deadline with the witches here."

"She just woke up, relax," Kol said as he grabbed a blood bag out of the fridge in his guest room.

"And you're going back to Mobile? You don't want to join us in Vegas?" Myriam pouted as she leaned on the kitchen counter. "Vegas is just lovely."

"Or you two could move to Mobile," Kol suggested. "I thought about maybe going to Nashville for the music, but I'd have to find me another witch to seal my new accommodation."

"Is it really that bad, Kol?" Myriam asked worriedly. "You never told me how bad it was."

"It's not that bad, it just gets annoying and I want some peace and quiet."

"Do you still have it now that Bella's really gone?"

Kol nodded. "I doubt it's something that will ever go away. Although should Izzy ever want to transition, I could get the angel statue all to myself."

She smiled then as she pulled a similar statue out of her pocket and handed it to Kol. "There, your own safety blanket."

"But you never wanted to give me one!" Kol looked at it, dumbfounded before hugging Myriam tightly. "You have no idea how happy this makes me."

"I never wanted to make you one because I believed it would go away on its own. Your situation is kind of unique. Not kind of. It is unique. Never heard of a psychic vampire before, have you?"

"And I want that to remain between us, too. It's a weakness," he scowled as he zipped down the stairs to put his statue next to Izzy's and hugged Myriam again. "You're my favorite sister-in-law."

"I'm the only one!" she laughed. "But seriously, I know how much you love to travel and I wasn't aware that you were being held back."

"Well, for the last fifty years I wanted to remain close to New Orleans too…"

"And you don't have to anymore. You can take Izzy traveling."

He let out a snort. "I'm not even sure she likes to travel," he sighed. "Getting to know someone is such a tedious little thing, what if I get bored? It's not my thing, you know… I was obsessed with Bella before I got to know her, but this? This is different."

"Different is good."

"She's human. I could break her."

"You won't," Myriam said encouragingly.

"He might," Klaus nodded as he looked up from his sketchpad. "But from what we've seen how he was with Bella, he won't."

"He won't, what?" Izzy asked as she walked into the room, fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and drying her hair.

"Break you."

She huffed. "Have some faith," Izzy smiled at Kol. "He's been nothing but kind."

Myriam smiled widely as she pointed at the plate of sandwiches. "You need to eat. We can hear your stomach rumble from here, it's distracting."

Izzy wrapped the towel around her hair and joined them at the kitchen counter. "Why are you all here? Did the witch kick you out?" She asked as she munched down on her sandwich.

"We were only allowed back in because of you," Klaus replied as he looked at her. "Davina asked about our progress and she told us that if you were well, we would have to leave."

"Oh," she said a little bit disappointed. "That's a shame. I'd have loved to see more of New Orleans," she said as she looked at Kol and took another bite out of her sandwich. "Where are we going?"

"Well, where do you want to go?" Kol asked her, slightly surprised by her question, he hadn't believed her really when she said she wanted to stick around.

"I don't know," she shrugged as she looked at Klaus and Myriam. "Where are you going?"

"Well, we're just going back to Las Vegas," Myriam smiled at her. "Nice warm climate, gambling, good music… good shows… the art scene is pretty cool too."

"Great! I guess we'll be going to Las Vegas then," she smiled at Kol. "I've never been to Vegas."


	40. Chapter 39

Myriam and Klaus' home in Las Vegas was completely different from the home they had had in New Orleans. It was a 100-year-old home on a huge plot of land, surrounded by nothing but trees and gates in front of the house to keep unwanted people out. Izzy got very excited upon seeing the pool and hottub at the back of the house, and the kitchen was to die for.

Unlike at the compound, this kitchen was new and had all the latest technology. The landscape around the home was pristine and the home had enough rooms for everybody.

Klaus and Kol weren't all too happy that Izzy wanted to come to Las Vegas with Klaus and Myriam, but Myriam and Izzy were already plotting to go on a shopping trip so that Izzy could get a bikini to use in the pool. As Izzy felt as if she'd slept long enough and didn't need a nap, she and Myriam went out to get groceries and that bikini.

Izzy wasn't aware that they'd been that close to the well known Las Vegas strip and was confused for a moment. "Don't you like your privacy?"

"The compound is in the middle of the French Quarter, be grateful we're not immediately on the Strip," Myriam laughed. "That gets a little bit too crazy at night," she looked over to Izzy from the driver's seat and then erupted in a big smile. "I'm going to treat you to some clothes as well."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Izzy said offended as she looked down on herself and tugged on her shirt. "I'm dressed, aren't I?"

"Yes, but you look cowgirl chic."

"And? I live on a farm."

She let out a chuckle then and shook her head. "How much clothes do you have with you?"

"Enough for a week," Izzy replied. "If I decide to stay longer I could always wash them."

"Wait, you're thinking about leaving, already?"

"No! It's just… I took a week's worth of clothes with me when I went to New Orleans. How was I supposed to know I had to plan ahead? Worst case scenario I'll just borrow one of Kol's shirts to wear over my jeans while my stuff is in the wash."

Myriam stopped the car at the side of the road and looked at her. "I'd strongly advise against that."

Izzy didn't like the serious tone of voice that Myriam was using. "Why?"

She sighed then. "Kol must have neglected to mention that apart from having temper issues and our bloodlust, us vampires are also extremely possessive."

"And?"

"If you'd wear one of Kol's shirts, he'll become extremely possessive over you."

Izzy huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We're friends. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"No, you don't get it. Even when you're just friends, his urge to kill anyone who even looks at you will become even stronger and he'll want you all to himself. It'll be dangerous for you and anyone else."

"He has excellent control over himself."

"That's what you think, but you've only known him for what? A couple of days? One of these days he'll do something you don't agree with and I suggest not to poke the proverbial bear by wearing one of his shirts. So, we're going to get you some extra clothes that you like in case you want to stay longer or run out of shirts. For your safety, for our safety and especially that of Kol's."

Izzy took in a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Tell me more. What are the rules if I have to make sure my daddy won't kill you guys for killing me?"

Myriam barked out a laugh as she started the car again to drive towards the store she wanted to take Izzy to. "I doubt your father will be able to kill Klaus or Kol. Me, maybe, with a lot of effort."

"He's very creative," Izzy mumbled as she looked out the window and sighed. "Have I made the wrong choice in staying around for a bit longer?"

"What? You don't want to be friends with us?"

"I just went through the horrible experience of making sure that a vampire doesn't get reunited with his long lost love who sacrificed herself for him because I'm selfish and want my life to be my own. I'm now hanging around with him and his family and who knows? Someone gets angry and can kill me? I…" Izzy sighed as she looked at Myriam. "I don't want to die, you know."

"But we're doing the best we can to make sure that doesn't happen," Myriam assured her. "And as long as Elijah doesn't come back from France, there's a bigger chance of you surviving."

"You're not even saying I'm safe!"

"Because you're not, simple as that. We want to keep you safe, yes, and we will."

"That so doesn't make any sense," she muttered.

"Sucks being a fragile human, doesn't it?" Myriam smiled at her. "The thing is, Klaus and I know how to control our emotions, Kol is slightly less able to do so, but if he really wants, he can be on his best behaviour. The blood lust… that's something we're going to have to work around with because he's been drinking like crazy. The only one who could stabilize him a bit was…"

"The ghost from Christmas past."

"The thing is, when or if Elijah comes back from France… well. Elijah is a douchebag who likes to push the buttons of his brothers. So if he comes back when you're around, you'll definitely be in danger." Myriam replied. "Remind me to ask Klaus where he put the daggers."

"Huh?"

"Original vampires, you know, all the Mikaelsons except for me, can't be killed with a normal stake. But, with a special stake they can get a time-out and boxed for a very long time."

"Oh, Kol told me about that," Izzy said as she scrunched up her nose. "Didn't sound like a pleasant experience."

"No, but I've been wanting to shove a dagger into Elijah's heart for a very long time now, he was actually down for the count before we went to Italy fifty years ago but we needed him so…" she shrugged then. "He then left as soon as we cleared the city." Myriam parked the car in the parking lot. "Coffee first? Or are you still contemplating to leave?"

"Coffee sounds good."

"There's a herb place right around the corner, I want you to buy something there for your own protection and put it in something you'll always have on you."

"Like my wallet?"

"Yes, that'll work. It's called Vervain. If you have it on you, you won't be able to be compelled. You could even ask for vervain tea that you can drink once a day to make your blood undesirable as well."

"Is it harmful?"

"To you? No," Myriam said as she got out of the car and waited for Izzy to follow her. "To us? Yes. It stings and makes our skin burn."

"Then maybe in a house full of vampires loose vervain leaves aren't the best idea?"

"We'll live," Myriam smiled. "So, give me your coffee order and you go to that shop. The old lady who runs it used to have the same shop in New Orleans but she moved because she wanted to be in a nicer climate. Her name is Ann. She must be about 75 years old now but she's still sharp as a whistle. If not, her daughter Lynn might be in the house and she's good too."

"Um, okay?" Izzy agreed, though reluctant as she was still learning a large deal about the world she was thrust into. If she was this overwhelmed, she could only imagine how the Bella they were still grieving took the news of everything.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Myriam smiled at her and watched Izzy walk off to the shop after giving her her coffee order. As expected, Izzy returned ten minutes later with a confused look on her face. "Ah, you've met Ann."

"She's weird."

"Yep, but did you get the vervain?"

"Yeah," Izzy nodded as she pat her pocket. "I didn't want to go for the tea though, I don't want to hurt you guys."

"Izzy, we're vampires. The best way to get us off of you is to hurt us."

"Which might escalate into more violence and you ignoring the pain and killing me anyway."

"Ugh," Myriam rolled her eyes. "I hate Ann."

Izzy gratefully took a sip of her coffee as she sat down. "She said that it was useless anyway seeing as I didn't listen to her fifty years ago and had thrown the tea out."

Myriam winced. "Sorry about that."

"I don't look anything like her."

"No, but Ann works in mysterious ways, we've never truly figured out how or why. Or even what she is," Myriam shrugged. "We stopped caring and only go there for the herbs that I need when I do my rituals. Some things are better left unexplained."

Izzy sighed as she took another sip of her coffee. "Okay… what else do I need to be mindful of?"

"I think they're still around… yeah, they must be. You need to avoid anyone with the last name Salvatore."

She stared back at the vampire. "Do I even want to know?"

"Let's just say that for vampires, they make the worst decisions. One munches on animals because he's a killer and the other is a killer with a big heart and is stupid and has a bitch for a wife. She didn't even come back to take care of her very human brother when he needed it. Kol did everything. Even organized a nice little funeral for him." Myriam smiled then. "Jeremy would have been thrilled to know that there's another version of Bella around."

"I'm me. Izzy. No more Bella."

"But you're a product of-" when Myriam saw the murderous look on Izzy's face, she sighed and nodded. "Anyway, the Salvatores are best to be left alone."

"Great. Are there any vampires beyond your family you approve of, less I start a war?"

Myriam thought for a moment and then shrugged. "We're pretty much keeping to ourselves these days, but vampires, in general, are a thing to be avoided for a human."

"So you suggest I leave."

"No!" Myriam said quickly. "Oh, please don't."

"Are you sure? Because I'm not interested in being a human pet," Izzy said sharply before taking another sip of her coffee. "If I'm going to stay, I want us to be equals. I can take care of myself. And let's change the subject, you're giving me a whiplash."

"Let's go shop."

~o.O.o~

Izzy didn't know what she did to deserve great parents as her, they had put some money into her account so she could buy a new phone with sim card so that she could send pictures to them and she had the feeling Myriam was offended when she paid for her new clothes and swimsuit herself.

She also bought herself a new sketch pad, deciding to stop in her old one as she wanted to forget about Bella and her influence and wanted to start anew. Izzy hoped that she had retained her drawing skills.

So after dinner, when Kol went out, Izzy took her pad and pencils and found herself a quiet spot in the garden and took a moment to herself to just draw and not to think about anything. She felt like her head was about to explode with information overload and she needed to clear her mind.

She was relieved when she discovered that her artistic skills had been hers, and continued to draw the farm in Texas. She didn't forget the silly bathtub underneath the watermill either. It was a quirky little thing and great in the hot summer to fill with water and cool off. Farms didn't have pools. At least not theirs.

After a while, she let out a deep breath. "What the hell am I doing?" she quietly asked herself as she kept her eyes fixed on her paper. Izzy usually gave herself the best advice. "Well, I am hanging out with a bunch of vampires who think I'm someone I'm not and now they've truly lost her because I wanted to live my own life. It's likely they still hope that I turn into her. It's so sad to see the hopeful look in their eyes when they look at me and it hurts. I shouldn't be here. They're stupid or delusional for not minding having me around."

Frustrated, she turned the page and started a new drawing, one that wasn't as familiar as her farm but more in tune with her own feelings at the moment. "I fucking hate it when I break their hearts. So far, they've been nothing but kind to me. Because there was a possibility that I was _her_ , but I'm not. But their tolerance could end. I don't even know what the fuck I'm doing here. Looking for a purpose? Validate that my life was indeed more important than _hers_? The only way I can do that is to do what I want. Live my life. Vet school… I don't know. I don't know anything at this point," she muttered as the strokes on her paper turned darker and thicker. "Who the fuck am I anyway?"

She kept furiously drawing until she felt like she was done. Izzy groaned when she saw the result. It wasn't even a drawing. It were just words in a dark vacuum in space. _Farm girl_. _Blank slate_. "Jesus fuck, brain," she sighed. "You're not helping me at all here."

Klaus had kept an eye and ear on her for the last two hours or so as he had opened the doors of his study. It was strange to hear her talking to herself like that, in a moment of taking a moment for herself. She appeared to be more lost than any of them had imagined.

Granted, she had a lot to deal with in the past few days; a whole lot of new experiences and Kol had told them that Izzy was likely going to have to adjust to being just herself.

He wasn't sure if her leaving would solve her problems and he also wasn't sure if he, Myriam and Kol would be the right people to help her to rediscover herself.

And she was wrong about thinking that she shouldn't stay around either. If anything, they could help her if she let them, but Izzy was very independent. Likely more so than Bella had ever been.

Klaus caught himself comparing Izzy to Bella and now realized what the girl must feel like; like someone who had big shoes to fill. The girl was going to drive herself mad by thinking that and they all had to stop treating her like a new version of their beloved Bella as Izzy was her own person.

Because she was. Bella was truly gone even though Izzy was made by her. It was why Kol was out of the house at the moment to let off some steam and why Myriam was playing with her spirits or doing rituals in her own voodoo room. It was why Klaus was distracting himself by painting and listening in on the muttering young girl in their garden.

Sighing, he put down his paintbrush and headed over to the girl to stop herself from thinking herself into a hole she couldn't crawl out of. He wasn't sure how, though. While he and Myriam were now enjoying themselves immensely without having to scheme or fight their way out of something, Izzy was still a human, a young one at that. They still had dreams. Hopes. She wanted to be a veterinarian, didn't she? "Do you mind if I joined you?"

Izzy looked up and quickly closed her sketch book and nodded. "Sure, why not, this is your garden."

"Ah, but you've chosen this spot to be alone, so it's only fair if I ask if I could join you," he smiled at her and sat down on the ground, opposite of her. "I was wondering, how are you faring? Truly?"

"Myriam put you up to this, didn't she?"

"Did something happen between you and Myriam? What did she do now?" Klaus sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry if-"

"No, it's alright. She gave me vampire 101 after I said I didn't need more clothes because I could borrow a shirt from Kol when needed."

He was surprised by the casualness of that sentence. "That's a bad idea."

"She told me," Izzy replied. "So I bought new clothes."

Klaus nodded and let out a breath. "You still haven't answered my question, how are you faring? Are you noticing any change in yourself after Bella made sure that you're alone inside your head?"

Izzy thought for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face. "I feel like a whore in church, to be honest," she said. "I might be a little homesick, but that's because I don't know anything else and haven't been without my parents for longer than a couple of days when they'd take the cattle to market and I'd stay behind to hold the fort."

"That explains the frequent phone calls back home," he smiled at her. She truly was just a child. Sheltered.

"Yeah, plus my father is this gigantic know-it-all so basically I call him for confirmation that I'm doing the right thing," she sighed as she leaned back on her hands. "But he wasn't able to give me confirmation about me sticking around with you."

"And that worries you? How so?"

"Because he never told me about vampires before. I'm on my own now. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing."

"You're not on your own. We're happy to assist you in any way that we can."

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea," Izzy sighed as she looked at him for a second before looking away again. "You're all still seeing _her_ , and not me. You still have a grieving process to go through. I'm aware that _she_ made a big impact on your lives."

"She has, she did, but before her, there were plenty of others who did the same and whom we've lost as well," Klaus smiled at her. "I suppose it's different for us now as Bella was a member of our family through Kol."

"Yeah, see, that's another reason I should just leave until you get over it, I don't know."

"Didn't you want to become a veterinarian? What do you have to do to get that?"

"Well, I finished high school two years ago. The perks of being homeschooled, I suppose. I interned at a vet and got my bachelor's degree in two years instead of four. All I need now is another 2 or 3 years in veterinary school," she then realized something and looked at him again. "What's this thing about Kol's clothes? Myriam said he'd become possessive of me but I don't understand? We're trying to start a friendship? Friends share clothes."

Klaus shifted a little in the grass and a flash of panic washed over his face. "Will you allow me to tell you a memory that I have of Bella so you can understand where Myriam and I are coming from?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Well, first of all, Kol had been infatuated with Bella for a very long time, he was a long subscriber of hers on the youtube, as was Myriam. So when the chance arose, he became part of Bella's team," Klaus started to tell Izzy. "Nothing wrong with that, Kol was doing a very good job at controlling himself and his impulses. His emotions. Until Bella knocked on his door for shelter and help. A couple of days later, she ran out of clothes to wear as she tended to travel light, and she wore one of Kol's shirts over her dress because she felt she was too skinny."

"And?"

"Myriam gave Bella the 'talk', as we noticed a change in Kol's behaviour towards Bella almost immediately. By wearing his shirt, she basically told him, and every vampire in town, that she was his. She had given himself over to him. Willingly. Or unknowingly. We'd be safe, but other vampires? Complete strangers? Hardly," he explained as he tried to remember what else happened. "As far as I know, they talked it out like adults and had sex shortly afterwards, because Bella was head over heels for Kol, she had felt a pull towards him since the moment she laid eyes on him."

"Well, I'm don't. I'm not."

"But love, you're dealing with vampires. While you're not sharing the same belief system with us vampires, it's how it works for us. It's nature. By wearing his clothes, you'll be marked as his. And while that could be a good thing for sure, it could also be very dangerous for you, as our enemies could come out of the woodwork and would see you as our weakness. And they could kill you."

"But Myriam's not like you and you let her do whatever."

"You're human, Izzy. Myriam's a 400 year old vampire with extensive training and her potions and trinkets. She will come out alive in a fight. You won't, and after everything you've done and after what we've sacrificed, we don't want you to die," he then let out a snort. "And everyone believes that I'm the big bad wolf, but trust me, it's Myriam everyone should be afraid of. That woman is wicked."

"Thank you for explaining it to me better, as why I shouldn't wear Kol's clothes even though I think it's a ridiculous concept," she sighed, shaking her head. She could see why Myriam was in love with Klaus. His voice, his face, his… being just breathed home. She needed to stop thinking about him because it was ridiculous. He was taken. He was a vampire. He was trying to be her friend.

"In any case," Klaus continued with a smile. "There's a great veterinary school in this state. You could stay with us while you go back to school. Surely your vet friend will give you a glorious recommendation?"

"Oh sure he would," Izzy smiled back at him. "But I can't really do that, can't I?"

"Why not? You're not a burden to us."

"You say that now," Izzy let out a snort. "Besides, I'd have to work to get the money first. Dr. Beck said I could work at his clinic as a veterinary assistant while he'd ask one of his teaching friends to get him the books so I can learn ahead while I work."

"I could gift you the money to go to veterinary school."

Izzy shook her head. "Don't. I've always worked hard to get my education, like my mom and dad taught me. I don't like charity," she sighed then. "I like to do things. I don't like to sit still. I only planned to stay away from the farm for a week because I knew that I'd get bored in New Orleans eventually and wanted to go back to work."

Independent. While she had had a sheltered upbringing, she was independent, which was good. And infuriating for some reason as that could mean trouble, too. "Izzy, for as long as you're under our roof, or in our company, you don't have to worry about financials. We happily pay for anything you need or desire, including your education. You've worked hard the past few years, it's time to have a little bit of fun."

"I don't even know what that's like anymore, to be honest."

"It's a good thing then that Kol knows all the right spots to let your hair down and have some fun. Myriam has her usual haunts here in Las Vegas too. Allow us to give you that breather, that relaxation and the time to figure out who you are, who you want to be," he continued. "You'll be perfectly safe, no matter what Myriam has told you. I give you my word."

That sounded like some ancient romance novel _I give you my word_ and _my word is something I don't give lightly_ , and Izzy tried not to giggle. "I'll give it a try, thank you, Klaus, for taking the time to explain things a lot better than Myriam has done."


	41. Chapter 40

The next day Izzy went out on her own without telling anyone. She took pictures of the famous Strip and sent them to her parents, went to see a matinee show and by the time she got home it was getting dark. She stopped by a food truck to get some food and continued to walk back to the house.

She had put the address in the navigation in her phone and it was happily telling her where to go, so Izzy wouldn't get lost. By the time she got back to the house, she heard yelling and things falling and being smashed and was that an earthquake? She ran into the house to warn Kol, Klaus and Myriam, but when she saw the devastation of the house she realized it wasn't an earthquake.

"Oh boy," she said as she looked at the fighting siblings from a safe distance. "What got your knickers in a knot?"

Myriam's head snapped to Izzy and she ran towards her to check her over. "Where the hell have you been? Are you hurt? Are you in pain? Did someone kidnap you?"

"Yeah, Kol did, last week," Izzy deadpanned and pushed Myriam away from her. "Relax, I'm fine. I went out to see the sights, went to see a show and I came back. Klaus told me to have fun."

"You did what!" Myriam screeched as she turned around to advance on her lover. "Have you gone completely insane? Las Vegas is not a place for a young girl by herself! What if she'd gotten hurt? Or lost? Or worse?!"

"I would have shot them," Izzy said as she took a bite out of her burger.

"You what!" Myriam blinked at her. "You would have what?"

With her free hand, Izzy pat underneath her jacket. "I have a gun."

"A GUN!"

"Yeah, daddy taught me how to shoot and he made me get the conceal and carry permit for my trip to New Orleans. It was safely tucked in a small gun locker in my bag for travel as the law states."

"Hand it over!"

"No," Izzy said calmly as she took another bite off of her burger. "Bullets may not hurt you, but they do hurt other people. No one touches me unwanted and gets away with it. Unless they're someone I've drawn over and over and over and over and over again. But touch my gun, and I will shoot you."

"Klaus, I will not stand for her having a gun in the house!"

"She's from Texas, relax, she likely knows how to use it," Kol said before he ducked as Myriam threw something heavy at him. "What? Let her have her gun, we have our strength and speed."

"Are you seriously one of those anti-gun people? Just because you're capable of protecting yourself, doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to, too. I'm human, and I was out and about in a strange city all by myself. When I go out with you, I won't have to carry it with me."

"Then you should have asked one of us to go along with you! And don't you ever sneak out of the house like that again!"

Izzy blinked at the irate vampire. "Well, I didn't sneak, I just walked out the front door. And sure, if Klaus goes with me next time, I will leave the gun where it's supposed to go."

"Klaus! Why him?!" Kol was offended. "His idea of fun is a dull painting commune in the armpit of Spain."

"Because right now, out of the three of you, he's the one who's the most levelheaded and doesn't treat me like I'm fragile. Much," she took another bite off her burger. "But feel free to continue your fight, I'm going to go to my room and make sure you can't get to my gun."

"No, wait a second…" Myriam blocked her path. "How did you get into town anyway?"

"Uber. And then I walked back, it was quite a nice walk," Izzy smiled at her. "You really need to get out more. Uber is still around, you know," she then walked around Myriam as she continued to munch on her burger and headed to her room. "Goodnight!"

"Klaus, what have you done?!" Myriam yelled at him. "This isn't how things are supposed to go!"

"She's not helpless, she's not Bella!"

"I take offense to that," Kol said angrily. "Bella wasn't helpless! She lacked confidence but in the end, she grew to be a force to be reckoned with and she sacrificed everything to save me, us, and to get rid of the blasted Volturi, basically cleaning up our family's mess!"

"Fine, allow me to rephrase, Izzy can take care of herself. If she wants to go out alone, she goes out alone," Klaus sighed. "With or without her gun."

"Unbelievable," Kol shook his head. "Izzy's life is the only one she has left. Izzy is all that's left of her, Klaus."

"Then stop avoiding her and get to know her," Klaus said calmly. "She's a very intelligent young woman who, at the moment, is still adjusting to everything she has learned about herself, about us. Teach her things."

"I don't know, Nik. Perhaps I'm not in the mood to take care of a human girl who-"

"Kol, she asked you where you were going and you asked her where she wanted to go. Don't go back on your idea of going somewhere with her. Be here with her, and don't be somewhere else."

"Nik… I can't," he said defeated. "Don't make me, this is a bad idea."

"You're not even trying," he said surprised when Myriam had calmed down and had now started to kiss his neck and blowing his ear, distracting him. "Talk to the girl, about anything. She might even be open about you talking about Bella. Tell her what you like to do in your past time," he then got smothered when Myriam jumped in his arms and started to kiss him, so he took her to their room, leaving Kol standing in the midst of all the rubble with his own thoughts.

Within ten minutes Izzy was running out of her room as she wiped her mouth and eyed the door that closed Klaus and Myriam's bedroom off from the rest of the house. "What the actual fuck?" she said in surprise as she looked at Kol, who was still standing in the middle of the rubble. "Are they?"

"Yes," Kol sighed. "Unfortunately. This is why I didn't want to come along to Las Vegas," he said as he motioned for her to follow him outside. "It's not as bad when you're outside. Be prepared to stay here for at least… an hour. If we're unlucky, they'll keep going the rest of the night."

"No way."

"Vampires have a lot of stamina," he said playfully and grabbed her a drink from the outdoor refrigerator and got something for himself. "And Myriam is very very loud."

"Ugh," Izzy said as she gratefully took the can of soda and fell into one of the comfy chairs. "I don't know what sounds worse, the bull with our cows or _them_."

Kol spat out his drink then and looked at her in shock. "What?"

"Lots of noise in the fields when the bull and cows want to get it on. Mom and dad don't want to artificially inseminate so we get a different bull each year," Izzy said as a matter of factly. She then thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose donkeys are worse. Geese… oh no, pigs squealing but you know, that's not them."

"You're a strange creature," Kol shook his head laughing.

"Animals are my normal. To me, you're the odd one out," she took a sip of her soda and looked at him. "What do you like to do for fun? I noticed the antiquated gaming setup in your apartment in New Orleans, you like those things?"

"Not anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because Jeremy got too old to work the controls, and the new games don't really interest me, the music these days is just abysmal. You'd think it was rubbish in 2018, well, it wasn't. It's only gotten worse."

Izzy huffed. "There are still some good country songs out there."

There was a mischievous smile on Kol's face. "There are self-driving vehicles around these days, what are the songs about? The guy's truck leaving him too?"

"Good country songs come from the heart. The gut. They're personal," Izzy replied as she took her phone and looked for one of her favorite songs. "This is a song about the singer not being able to find their way. They feel lost, made mistakes and are trying to rebuild their life."

He listened to the song for awhile and looked at her. "Did you make mistakes?"

"I might have," she nodded. "You?"

"Oh, plenty, darling. It's usually my temper that makes me make bad decisions," he let out a slight snort. "Or jealousy. Or merely because I want to annoy my siblings. When you live more than a thousand years, you are bound to make mistakes. Many mistakes."

"Any you truly regret?"

Kol seemed to think for a moment. "None."

She blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Do you think that I should?"

"I don't know."

"Do you regret your mistakes?"

"Of course, when you put the wrong feed in the wrong pasture… animals get sick," she replied with a shrug. "And those are mistakes that I regret."

"More recently."

"I don't know if it's a mistake yet. So I don't know if I have to regret it," she said as she took a sip of her soda. "I'm glad you think that you haven't made a mistake, that makes it a bit easier for me."

"Darling, choosing for yourself isn't a mistake. To be fair, Ylva's idea was giving me false hope and that bitch has always been a bit in the way apart from when she was still in our world," Kol replied, surprised where that came from. "Even Bella knew it'd be a bad idea and yes, we're all sad still because she meant a lot to us, but it's been fifty years. I'd only known her for about a year after having watched her videos for longer. I'm surely never going to forget her or truly allow her to erase herself, but dead is dead."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. You're not her. She made you as her last version and the best you can do with your life is to live it the way you want. Have fun. Enjoy yourself, stop worrying about things and be in the present," he smiled then. "I do see some similarities between you and her, but that's only natural. You're you. With a full life ahead of you. And I don't want you to waste it so, the next time you plan on sneaking out, I want to come with you."

"I didn't sneak out!"

"You did. And with a gun."

"To protect myself."

"People kill people with guns, I don't want you to end up one of them, it's a waste of your life. Nik, Myriam and I are more than capable to keep you safe. And as long as you're with us, we'll do just that."

"I don't plan on becoming your kept human. Your pet."

"You won't be."

Izzy huffed as she finished her can of soda. "You accused me of sneaking out, which I didn't. That makes me think I can't go anywhere," she said as she put the can on the table. "Can I have a beer next please?"

Kol huffed as he pointed at the outdoor fridge. "Get it yourself, but do you think beer is a good choice?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not your kept human. Besides, you drink wine and bourbon before breakfast so don't even go there."

"We don't get drunk."

"And neither do I as I know my limits," she said as she got to her feet and to get herself a beer. "Don't manage me. I haven't had a beer for at least a week and I deserve one."

"You know, you were a lot more agreeable when you were curious and confused back in New Orleans," Kol stated. "If you don't want to be here, go. We won't stop you. Go be impossible somewhere else."

"I'm not being impossible!" Izzy shot at him as she slammed the fridge door shut. "But you know what? That is a good idea," she said as she set the beer can down on the table and headed inside to pack her things. "I told your brother I'd try, but maybe I'm just too emotionally immature to deal with this. I'm out," she said angrily as Kol followed her inside. "I'm going back home."

"You can't leave!"

"Yes, I can!" Izzy pushed her clothes deeper into her bag and hadn't noticed that Klaus and Myriam had stopped trying to push each other through the mattress and were now standing in her doorway as well.

"What's going on?" Myriam asked confused.

"I'm leaving," Izzy said as she closed her bag and lifted it off the bed. "I appreciate y'all's hospitality and all, but I can't do this. Every fibre in my being says to get out, so I am. I'm going home."

"And then what?"

"Grow up."

"What about us?"

"You don't need me," Izzy said as she tried to push past the vampires. "Let me go, please."

Klaus pressed his lips together, remaining silent in his disappointment as he glared back at his brother. "Leave your bag and settle down, Iz. I'll make arrangements and take you to the airport myself if this is truly what you want. I'll get you your flight."

"I appreciate the gesture, Klaus, but I'll be getting my flight and I'll be fine."

"Please. It's the least I can do for the idiot that my brother has behaved," he offered.

"It's not him, or you or Myriam, it's me."

Klaus looked at his brother and wife, wordlessly ordering them out of the room. It didn't take them long to depart, though reluctantly. "Tell me what is bothering you. Perhaps I can help or find some resolution?"

Izzy sighed. "I feel like my whole being clashes with you. I feel like I need to crawl out of my skin… I got scolded at for leaving on my own today. Kol didn't like it when I got a beer. I can't be myself. I'm going home. Grow up some and adapt. I can't do this."

"Myriam and Kol need to remember you are not the same person they think you are. They are trying and it is a difficult situation all around," he hedged.

"Some distance between us would be good. They won't have a constant reminder around them so they can heal."

Klaus frowned and raised a brow. "Do you really think it would be better for any of us knowing you exist now out there? The Bella they knew.."

"I'm not your property, am I?"

"No, absolutely not and trust that I will discuss Myriam's response to your adventure into town…"

"Then you're going to let me go and you're going to allow me to finish vet school and maybe come see me in three years or so. I'm not ready to deal with your emotions and on top of that, my own."

Klaus drew in a breath, hearing the protests on the other end of the house and nodded. "Of course," he said as he made his way to the dresser and picked up her phone to add his number. He quickly typed in a note and handed it to her. "Just read something and relax. I'll go arrange a flight for you."

 _Do keep in touch at least with myself so that I know you are safe. Anything you need or help I will be a phone call away._

Izzy sighed and nodded. "Can I at least wait outside? I promise I won't walk away."

"It's 110 degrees. Are you truly mad?" He laughed. "I won't be long. I promise." She sat down on the bed and watched him leave the room before returning ten minutes later. "Are you ready?"

"You found me a flight already?"

"Bought and paid for," Klaus smiled at her as he took her bag. "I'll take you to the airport myself so that I know that you've arrived safely. Come on, your flight leaves in 30 minutes. It'll be a two and a half hour flight. You can call to inform your father that you'll need a pick up on our way to the airport."

Izzy followed him out of the house. "How much do I need to pay?"

He stiffened for a moment before letting out a breath. "Izzy, sometimes it's alright to accept generosity, let's leave it at that. I only want you to be safe," he said as he put the bag into the car and let her get inside the car herself. "Paying for your trip home doesn't make a dent in our wealth, don't you fret."

When they arrived at the airport, Izzy was surprised that Klaus was allowed to take his car to the tarmac and hangars where a plane stood ready with the door open. "What?"

"It's the same we flew in to get from New Orleans to here, love, what else did you expect?" he smiled at her as he helped her out of the car. "As if I'd allow you to take an overly crowded normal flight back home. You deserve better," he gently pulled her into an embrace. "Don't be a stranger and I hope you find what you're looking for, Izzy," he said before letting go of her and handing her her bag. "Now, off you go."

Despite the situation, she had hoped he would have hugged her some time longer. Klaus smelled nice and his touch was gentle. Out of all three, he was trying the hardest to make her feel normal but nothing about all of this was normal and she wanted her normal back. And her normal could be found at home. "Thank you, and I'm sorry," she gave him a kiss on his cheek before getting onto the plane.

And as soon as the plane had left the ground, Izzy stopped holding it together and had a good cry. By the time the plane landed and she saw her parents, she just wanted to sleep. She felt exhausted and she didn't want to talk anymore. She just wanted to go home and sleep for days.


End file.
